Mario & Luigi IS
by Musashi the Master
Summary: When Ichika and his seven female friends discovered a warp pipe to the Mushroom Kingdom, he is reunited with his childhood friends, the Mario Bros and embark on adventures with them. First ever Mario & Luigi x Infinite Stratos crossover. Arc 1: Super Star Saga
1. The Adventure Begins!

**A/N: Hello all. This is Musashi the Master with a new story. Now don't worry, we're still working on Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth IS, but me and Panther J are trying the working on two stories at a time method again and hopefully we will be okay with it. Me and Panther J wanted to do a Infinite Stratos crossover story with the most famous video game icon of all time, Mario himself. And what better way to cross Infinite Stratos with the Mario & Luigi series? Now this story will follow the current games in the Mario & Luigi franchise including the side-stories seen in the 3DS remake of Super Star Saga like Bowser's Minions and the upcoming remake of Bowser's Inside Journey which stars Bowser Jr. So me and Panther J would like to present to you all, Mario & Luigi IS! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Me and Panther J do not, I repeat, do not own Infinite Stratos, all rights to the light novel, manga and anime go to Izuru Yumizuru. Nor do we own Mario & Luigi, the great and honorable Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo does. We also don't own any anime or other game we put in this fanfic. Please support the disclaimer.**

**Arc 1: Super Star Saga**

**Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins! The Famous Super Mario Bros are Ichika's Childhood Friends?!**

* * *

In the vast Pacific Ocean just off the coast of China is the island of Japan, also known as the Land of the Rising Sun. Over the centuries, Japan has been known as not only the country of great history and knowledge, but also of advance technologies in recent years. One of the most famous in advance technology is the IS, an endoskeleton like armor created by Tabane Shinonono to help those in need. In the wake of the IS being created, there was also the construction of the IS Academy, a school dedicated to train girls into piloting an IS and help others. One such pilot was Chifuyu Orimura, a world renowned IS pilot that was considered the very best of the best and absolutely no one even surpassed her.

However, our tale isn't about Chifuyu Orimura, but her younger brother Ichika Orimura, the only boy to ever pilot an IS, and his seven female friends who are all considered the best IS pilots of the current generation. It's a tale of an adventure through a land familiar to many people, but holds some special memories in Ichika's heart as he's about to meet some familiar faces from his childhood.

* * *

In a residential district of Tokyo, Ichika and his seven female friends were walking down the sidewalk passing by some shops and restaurants while on their way home. Classes at the IS Academy has ended and it was the beginning of the weekend. After a long and hard week of studying and training with the IS, Ichika and his friends were heading for home to relax.

"Oh man, I thought that Mr. Franchee's math test wasn't going to end. That was just brutal." Ling complained with a sign. "I can't believe he had us take a test just before school ended. I think my brain was about to explode with all the numbers flying around. I don't know if I'll ever sleep tonight."

"Tell me about it, that was easily the most brutal test that we've ever gotten." Tatenashi agrees with a nod. "Not including the one that Chifuyu-sensei had given us last month, that's just evil. Remind me to never get on her bad side ever again." Everyone all nodded in agreement.

"I know my sister can be harsh at times, but I'm sure she means well." Ichika said with a smile. "But yeah, that test she gave us last month was just evil. Sometimes I wonder if she does that to vent out some frustration and direct it at us." His friends all shrugged their shoulders and continued on until Houki noticed something at the corner of her eye.

"Hmm?" Houki stopped in her tracks and looked down an alleyway. Her friends noticed her looking down the alley too.

"Houki? What's wrong? Did you notice something?" Char asked in concern.

"Yeah, I think there's something just down this alley. I saw it at the corner of my eye." Houki answered her as she pointed to the alleyway.

"It's probably just some dumpsters with their lids open." Cecilia said with a frown. "Why would something as mundane as a dumpster even catch your interest, Houki? I do not find it that appealing to begin with."

"It's not the dumpster I'm looking at, there's something else in that alley!" Houki refuted. "I saw something green and round sticking out from the ground right in the middle of the alley. I'm not sure what it is, but I think we should check it out."

"If you think it's something worth checking out, then let's go see this object you saw." Ichika agrees with her. "But we'll need to be careful, there's no telling what could happen. So we'll need to be cautious and keep an eye out for anything suspicious." His friends all nodded in agreement and headed down the alleyway to find the object Houki saw.

As the IS pilots make their way through the alley, there was the stench of garbage everywhere ranging from open trash cans to dumpsters that hasn't been picked up in a long time. There were even some cardboard boxes that stray animals live in to keep warm. Upon reaches the center of the alley, there was a giant green circular object jutting out from the concrete, but there was no penetration on the asphalt. Ichika and his friends got closer to it to see what it was.

"What is this green object? And why is it doing here in the alley?" Laura asked confusedly.

"It looks like some kind of pipe. But it's not like any pipe I've seen before." Kanzashi answered her with an astounded look upon the green pipe. "I thought pipes were much smaller than this and they're not green, more like a silver color when it's not covered in gunk." Her sister and friends were all grossed out at that image.

"But if this is a pipe, then what's it doing here? And for what purpose?" Cecilia asked her confusedly. "It doesn't look like anyone else noticed this yet, but us. So why is it that we're the only ones to know about this?"

"I'm not sure, but there must be a reason why it's here of all places." Ichika answered as he looked at the pipe and feels like he has seen this pipe before. "Also, this pipe looks somewhat familiar to me. Like I've seen it before."

"You have, Ichika? When was this?" Char asked with a gasp.

"I don't know, I can't really remember. It's been so long since then." Ichika answered her as he tried to remember the pipe. "But I somehow vaguely remember a pipe similar to this, I just can't figure it out. Let's check the top of it and see what we can find." His friends all nodded in agreement as they looked over the top of the pipe and saw nothing but blackness.

"Whoa, there's no end to it. I just can't see the bottom." Tatenashi gasped in shock. "I don't know what this thing is or where it came from, but it just keeps going. I sure hate to fall down there."

"Yeah, no kidding. It'd be like a bottomless pit you'd see in most video games." Houki agrees with a nod. "But why is it that we can't see anything down there? It feels like there's more to this pipe than we know. What could its purpose be and why were we the only ones to noticed this?" Before anyone could answer, a cat leaps onto a trash can behind Ling and meows that caused her to jump.

"AHHHHH!" Ling screamed before pushing everyone into the pipe.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Everyone screamed as they all fell into the deep darkness of the pipe before it made a classic sound effect and retracts back into the ground.

* * *

**(Opening song from Sonic Colors plays)**

* * *

We see Mario running down a green field followed by Luigi who frantically tries to keep up, then we see Ichika flying in Byankushii, Mario noticed him and he and Ichika smiled back as Mario leaped up in the air, followed by Luigi who made a comedic jump. Then the title of the story appears.

We see Mario and Ichika landing near their friends who were waiting for them (Consisting of Princess Peach, the IS girls, Starlow and Toadsworth). Mario greeted Peach with a bow which the latter smiled in response. Suddenly, Luigi crashed into Ling who angrily glares at the younger brother of Mario. Luigi hid behind Mario in fright of Ling's glare. Mario, Ichika and the gang smiled at this despite this.

We then see the Mario Bros and the IS pilots glaring at Bowser's Castle with Bowser grinning evilly at them from his castle.

We then see Bowser Jr arguing with the Koopalings about why he's second in command.

We then see shadows of Crackletta, Fawful, the Shroobs, Anatasma and Paper Bowser with glowing red eyes.

We then see the IS pilots and the Mario Bros running on a field with silhouettes of the anime heroes they encounter.

We then see the Baby Mario Bros and Paper Mario leaping up for joy.

We then see the supporting characters with smiles, including Professor E Gadd and Stuffwell.

We then see the Mario Bros and IS pilots battling Goombas, Shy Guys, Boos, Piraha Plants and Koopas on their adventures as well as battling Shroobs.

Final scenes show Mario and Luigi using their Bro Attacks and the screen flashes, then final scene shows the IS pilots, the Mario Bros, Chifuyu Orimura and Maya Yamada, Tabane Shinonono, Princess Peach, Toadsworth, Starlow, and Professor E Gadd with smiles in a group photo shoot. Then the screen fades out and we see the title of the story again.

* * *

For what seems like an eternity, Ichika was still falling in the deep darkness after accidentally being pushed in by Ling when she was started by a cat. However, Ichika couldn't see any of his female friends anywhere, almost like they've just vanished without a trace and he could be next. Just then, he felt like he hits a flat surface that felt somewhat soft, but that wasn't on his mind at the moment. Ichika just stares into the deep darkness as he laments on his last moments of life.

'Is this really it? Is this where I'm gonna die?' Ichika asked fearfully. 'I never would've thought that I'd die after falling down a strange pipe, but I guess there are worse ways to die. Still, I had so much to live for and now I'll never be able to do any of them. Heck, I still haven't given my answer to Houki and the others about who I love the most. But I guess that's what I get for being so dense to them...' He looks up into the deep darkness as he reaches his hand outward towards the vast blackness. 'But I can't just let it end like this, I don't want to die so easily! I just can't end this way, I won't let it!" Just then, he sees a light shine down above him as he starts hearing some voices.

"Hey, buddy! Are you all right? Can you hear our voices?" Voice 1 asked in concern.

"Come on, you have to wake up! Don't die on us now!" Voice 2 panicked.

'Huh? Are those voices? And what's with this light?' Ichika asked with a grunt. 'It feels so warm, almost like it's inviting me. And those voices, I feel like I know them from somewhere but I can't seem to remember where…' As he reaches for the light source and the voices, the light shines even brighter on him. But as the light continues to shine down, everything around him started to become clearer until he sees a blue sky above. The light that was shining down on him was the sun and he also finds out that he was laying on a grassy field. "Huh? I'm on a field? How did I get here?" Just then, he heard the voices again and looks over to see pairs of brown shoes all surrounding him.

"Hey! You're finally awake! You really had us worried there." Voice 3 sighed in relief. "We thought that you weren't waking up, but we're glad that you're still alive. You must've had quite the episode that caused you to faint here." Ichika sits up to get a better look at whoever is surrounding him, only to find himself surrounded by little mushroom people of various colors.

"Whoa! What the heck?!" Ichika gasped in shock as he crawled back a little. "Who are you guys? What are you guys?!" The mushroom people all got closer to him as they seem to know him somehow.

"Hey, wait a minute. Isn't that Ichika?" Mushroom person 4 asked with a gasp.

"You're right, it is Ichika! He really came back!" Mushroom person 5 agrees happily. "Wow, he sure has grown up. He was no bigger than us when he first came here back when he was a kid." Most of the other Mushroom people all nodded in agreement while Ichika was confused on what was going on.

"Man, it sure is great to have you back in the Mushroom Kingdom, Ichika. We really missed you." Mushroom person 6 said with a smile. "I can't believe it's been so many years since you were here. You were a lot smaller too, about the same size as all of us." The other Mushroom People nodded while Ichika was still confused.

"Ok, this is just getting weirder and weirder..." Ichika said to himself confusedly as he placed his hand on his head in confusion. "How is it that these guys know me and what is the Mushroom Kingdom? I must be dreaming or something!" He then noticed something else was missing. "Wait a minute, where are Houki and the others?! Did we get separated when we fell into that pipe?" Before he could ask the Mushroom people, an elderly mushroom like person approaches him.

"Why, hello there, young Master. It's a pleasure to meet you." The elder mushroom person greeted with a smile. "My name is Toadswoth, please to make your acquaintance, Master Ichika. I must say, it's been a long time to see you back in the Mushroom Kingdom. We haven't seen you since you were still a young child." Now Ichika was even more confused than ever before as from what Toadsworth said, he's in a place known as the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Hold on, how do you even know my name?" Ichika asked confusedly. "And what do you mean about haven't seen me when I was a child? I've never even been to or heard of the Mushroom Kingdom."

"I understand it's a lot to take in, but I can assure you that I am telling the truth." Toadswoth reassured him as he began explaining. "You are childhood friends with the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach Toadstool and the heroes of our kingdom, the Super Mario Bros. However, our kingdom is in a crisis at the moment and everyone is in a state of panic."

"What do you mean? What kind of crisis?" Ichika asked confusedly.

"An evil witch named Cackletta has stolen the Princess' voice and fled to the neighboring country, the Beanbean Kingdom." Toadsworth answered him with a frown. "We're not sure what that witch plans to do with her voice, but I can guarantee that it can't be good." The other Mushroom people all lowered their heads in sadness, knowing that they won't hear their Princess' loving voice ever again.

"That's horrible! This Cackletta person can't just take someone's voice and gets away with it!" Ichika said angrily as he clenched his fists in anger. "I'm not going to stand by and let her have her way with your ruler's voice, I'll help in any way I can!" The Mushroom people and Toadsworth all started to look up at him and cheered.

"Oh, we are so grateful for your assistance, Master Ichika." Toadsworth said happily. "I'm positive that with your help, our Princess will have her voice back in no time." He then turns around while also gesturing Ichika to follow, which he does.

"So where are we going?"

"We're meeting up with Masters Mario, Luigi and Bowser at the Koopa Cruiser." Toadsworth answered him. "It's the only way to get to the Beanbean Kingdom fast enough across the border. I'm certain that Masters Mario and Luigi would be excited to see you again." Ichika was still confused at what he meant, but followed him to the location of the Koopa Cruiser where Mario, Luigi and Bowser are loading up before heading for the Beanbean Kingdom.

* * *

Not long after waking up in the Mushroom Kingdom, Ichika was following Toadsworth to the castle to meet up with the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom, the Super Mario Bros in order to track down Cackletta in the neighboring Beanbean Kingdom and recover Peach's voice. Upon arriving at the courtyard of the castle, two men were talking with each other discussing what to do once they make it to Beanbean Kingdom. The first man has a short stature with a red shirt, blue overalls, a red cap with an M and a mustache. The other man is a little taller from the first man with the same blue overalls and mustache, but with a green shirt and cap with an L. Toadsworth walks over to the men as they turned to see him.

"Toadsworth, there you are. We were wondering where you went." The short man said with a smile. "We asked one of the Toads where you were and he said that you were investigating something just outside of Toadtown. We're just about ready to leave for Beanbean Kingdom and catch Cackletta." The tall man nodded in agreement, though he was shaking in fear.

"My apologies, Master Mario. It was a matter that needed my attention." Toadsworth apologized as he rubbed the back of his head. "Some of the Toads said there was someone just outside of the kingdom and I needed to see who it was. And to my surprise, it was someone who had visited our kingdom back when I was a young toad and you were toddlers."

"Really, who? Who's the one that we knew as kids?" The tall man asked confusedly.

"Why don't you boys see for yourselves?" Toadsworth suggested, smiling as he gestures behind him to Ichika who was just coming up to them.

"Mama Mia! Bro, isn't that who I think it is?!" The tall man gasped.

"It is, Luigi! It's really him!" The short man known as Mario answered as they both rushed over to Ichika and hugged him.

"Ichika!" Both Mario and Luigi shouted happily.

"It's-a so good to see you again! It's-a been way too long!" Luigi said happily. "We thought that we'd never see you again, but here you are!"

"Mama Mia, you sure have grown, Ichika. You were no bigger than us back when we were kids." Mario smiled. "It's-a sure been a long time since we've last seen each other, but now we're back together again. We have a lot of catching up to do, but I'm afraid that it'll have to wait. We've got some trouble to deal with."

"You mean Cackletta stealing away the princess' voice, right?" Ichika asked with a serious frown.

"Yes, that's-a it. So Toadsworth already told you the situation." Mario nodded, frowning seriously as well. "But it's true, Cackletta has stolen Peach's voice and has fled to the Beanbean Kingdom. We were just about to head out with Bowser and his minions until Toadsworth had left for something. It seems what he meant was you appearing just outside of the kingdom."

"Yeah, that was me. He and the others found me not too long ago and brought me here." Ichika agrees with a nod while pondering. "But even if what you're saying is true, I still can't seem to remember either of you." Toadsworth walks over to them.

"Perhaps that it's because you were so young that you don't remember your time here in the Mushroom Kingdom." Toadsworth explained. "Though it may take some time, I'm sure that you'll remember all the times you had with Masters Mario and Luigi and the princess. Just give it some time, my boy."

"Well, if you think so, then I believe you." Ichika nods in agreement. "I just hope I can find my friends as well."

"Your friends? So, you didn't come here alone?" Luigi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's right, but when I woke up, I couldn't find them anywhere." Ichika answered him while looking down sadly. "When we were together, we found this strange green pipe in an alleyway and went over to investigate it. But just when we were about to come up with something, a cat scares Ling from behind and we all fell into the pipe. Everything after that just went black until Toadsworth found me." That made Toadsworth and the Mario Bros gasp in shock to hear that a pipe from their world has appeared in Ichika's world.

"If that's the case, then they must be somewhere in Beanbean Kingdom." Mario figured. "If one of the pipes has somehow appeared in your world, then it must've been a reason why you and your friends were brought here, Ichika."

"And what reason is that, bro?" Luigi asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I believe that Ichika was brought back here just like before." Mario answered him as he crossed his arms and pondered about it. "I didn't think much of it because we were only just kids, but now I believe that there was a reason for him coming to our world." But before he could say anything else, a loud roar was heard from not too far from them.

"MARIO!" A loud booming voice roared "Where the heck are you?! Get your pasta loving keister over here right now and make it snappy!" That made Luigi hide behind Mario while Ichika jumped in surprise.

"Whoa! What was that?!" Ichika gasped in shock.

"That was Bowser, the Koopa King himself." Mario answered him with a sigh. "He arrived at the castle before we did and after a brief scuffle, he agreed to take us to Beanbean Kingdom in his airship, the Koopa Cruiser. We better head on over before he really blows his top." His brother, Ichika and Toadsworth all nodded in agreement before heading to meet up with Bowser.

* * *

**Later**

* * *

In the center of the garden, a large green and yellow airship rests at the entrance with Bowser waiting on the top deck. The Koopa King was tapping his foot impatiently with his arms crossed while waiting for Mario to arrive. Just then, he looks down from his ship to see the plumbers finally arriving along with Toadsworth and Ichika right behind them.

"Well, it's about time you showed up! You're late! What were you doing?" Bowser asked with a snarl. "We're leaving! Right now! So, get on board, and make it snappy!" Mario jumps onto the deck with his amazing jumping abilities right next to him. "So, what's been taking you so long? I thought you wanted to head for Beanbean Kingdom."

"Sorry, but something came up and we were held back." Mario answered him. "We were just meeting up with an old friend before you called out for me. So we all came over here where you airship is."

"Really? So, who's this old friend of yours?" Bowser asked curiously before turning over to see Ichika looking up at him. It took Bowser a few seconds to recognized Ichika. When he did that, he laughed meanly. "Bwa ha ha ha ha! Well, lookie what we have here. If it isn't little Crybaby Ichika! Still need to have your diaper changed?"

"Hey! That's so not cool! I was only five!" Ichika yelled angrily, a vein popped in his forehead. "And just who do you think you are?!"

"Me? Why, I'm Bowser! King of the Koopas and soon to be ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom!" Bowser answered him, Ichika was confused and Bowser took notice. "What? Don't tell me that you've forgotten all about me?" Ichika just shrugged at him. "Oh, whatever. It doesn't really matter, I still have other things to do." He turns to Mario. "Well? So? What do you think? Incredible, isn't it? This is my newest weapon: the Koopa Cruiser!"

"I have to admit, you've really outdone yourself, Bowser." Mario said with a smile as he looked at the airship. "This new airship of yours could really come in handy to get us to Beanbean Kingdom. So glad I'm not fighting against it." He then turns around to see Ichika climbing abroad the deck.

"Hmm… Yes, very good… Now all I need are my Baddies…" Bowser said with a devious smile before he yelled out "BOWSER BADDIES!" But no one came expect for Luigi waving his cap at them.

"Bye-bye." Luigi said while everyone looked at Bowser.

"GAAH! Where are they?!" Bowser growled as he hopped up and down in anger before noticing Luigi. "Huh? What in green blazes…? Hey! You! Are you sighing up to join my crew of Bowser Baddies?" Luigi was still waving his cap at them while jumping up and down. "I see! I see! You want me to bring you along that badly, huh?" Luigi stops jumping before looking around him.

"Huh? You talking to me?" Luigi asked confusedly, having a bad feeling about this.

"Yes, you!" Bowser answered him with a furious nod before Luigi started shaking his hands and head no franticly. "Bwa ha ha har! Oh, that's rich! Don't be modest, Mr. Green! I mean, you look like a real pain, but I'll take you anyway!" Luigi tries to escape by backing up before turning around and running in the other direction. "Hey, you! Stop!" But something bumps into Luigi as a Koopa arrives while Luigi falls over.

"Your Gnarliness! The Baddies has just arrived!" The Koopa saluted before turning behind him. "Hey! The assembly area is over here, you blithering idiots!" Just then, more Koopas with both green and red shells along with some Goombas all arrived on the scene with Luigi right up front of the pack. "Baddies! Faaaaaall in!" The Baddies all formed three lines. "Now mooove out!" The Baddies all started marching towards the Koopa Cruiser while Luigi was being forced forwards. "All Baddies have assembled! We shall now begin boarding the Koopa Cruiser!" The Baddies soon began to board the Koopa Cruiser while Luigi tries to sneak away through the crowd.

"War har har! Good! Then we can depart! And with an increased head count, too! Excellent!" Bowser gloated.

"Your Flightiness, boarding is now complete! …Except for one deserter…" A Koopa said grimly.

"WHAAAT?!" Bowser yelled as he bopped the Koopa on the head. "Move it, you idiots! Initiate Cruiser pursuit!" The Koopa Cruiser fired its rockets and started to take off after the deserter while Toadsworth and a Toad watched them depart.

That deserter was Luigi as he tries to escape from going along with them while screaming in a familiar tone from a certain Mario cartoon "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYEEEEEEEEEEEELP!", only for the Koopa Cruiser to come up from behind him with its arm out. The airships gets closer and closer to Luigi as he tries to run as fast as he could, but it was in vain as the hand closes around his body before retracting back into the ship. Once Luigi has been brought into the ship, it takes off for the Beanbean Kingdom.

* * *

Not long after taking off from Peach's Castle, the Koopa Cruiser was flying though the skies just above the Mushroom Kingdom on its way to the Beanbean Kingdom. Inside the ship were Luigi who was brought in after trying to escape, the Mario Bros and Ichika were waiting around for any further instructions from Bowser.

"He sure is taking his sweet time… How long are we going to wait?" Ichika asked with a sigh as he looked at the ceiling.

"I'm-a sure that he'll call us sooner or later." Mario answered him. "Right now, we'll just have to wait until he does. We can't really do much at the moment since we're on his ship." His brother and Ichika nodded in agreement until they heard a voice calling out to them.

"Hey! You! Down there in the ship's belly! Mario, Crybaby Ichika and… what's-yer-name! Green guy!" Bowsers's voice calls out. Mario, Luigi and Ichika heard it and looked around to see where it was coming from until Mario spotted an object on the wall.

"Luigi! Ichika! Over there!" Mario called out as he, his brother and Ichika spots a speaker on the other side of the arm that grabbed Luigi and headed over.

"Mario! Crybaby Ichika! And…Mr. Green Mario Brother Guy! Look alive down there, will you three?" Bowser issued. "We're about to arrive in the Beanbean Kingdom! Open up your suitcase, arrange your stuff, and get ready to roll. Then report to the deck. Pronto!" The boys all heard the announcement before turning to each other.

"Looks like we're nearing our destination. We're almost to the Beanbean Kingdom." Ichika said with a smile. "Let's head up to the deck and see what our next move will be once we arrive in the Beanbean Kingdom." The Mario Bros both nodded and replied with an "Let's-a go" from Mario and an "Okie dokie" from Luigi before heading out from the hold.

Upon exiting the hold and into the interior of the Koopa Cruiser, Bower's minions were all talking with each other or working around the clock to keep their king's ship flying to reach their destination. They pass some green and red shelled Koopas before reaching the next area where three Koopas were in a line to get their pictures taken with one more Koopa behind the camera.

"Hey, what's going on here? Why is everyone in a line to take a picture?" Ichika asked confusedly.

"It's for passports. Everyone on the ship needs passports for when we arrive at Beanbean Kingdom." Camera Koopa answered him as he worked on his camera. "Since we're heading for a foreign country, you need a passport to enter." He then leaves the camera for a moment and looks at Ichika and the Mario Bros as they were about to continue on. "Hey there! You three!" The trio stopped in their tracks and turned towards him. "Yeah! You two mustache dudes and the dense idiot!" He walks over to them.

"Dense idiot?" Ichika raised an eyebrow.

"You're about to enter the Beanbean Kingdom, so you have your passports with you, right?" Camera Koopa asked as Ichika and the Mario Bros looked at each other in confusion.

"Passports?" The trio all asked in confusion.

"Well, it looks like you've got a suitcase there…" Camera Koopa said with a smile "Tell you what: go ahead and open up your suitcase, OK?" Mario takes out the suitcase and opens it for the Koopa to look inside for their passports. He rummages through the suitcase until he finds two passports and takes them out. "Aha, I see you've got 'em right here! Shiny, new passports! There's no greater joy." Just then, Ichika realized something once he sees the passports.

"Hold on, I don't have a passport! I must've left it back home!" Ichika panicked. "I didn't think that we were going to another country until now! But if I don't have a passport on me, how am I going to enter Beanbean Kingdom?" Mario and Luigi realized that he was right and before they could do anything, the Koopa pulls out a third passport from the suitcase.

"You sure about that? I found it right here in the suitcase." Camera Koopa said with a bored smile. "It was buried under some clothes where I found the other two. You really need to be careful where you put it, buddy." This confuses Ichika and the Mario Bros as they didn't know how a third passport got in their suitcase.

"Bro, I didn't put that passport there, did you?" Luigi asked as he takes off his hat for a bit to scratch his before putting his hat back on his head.

"I don't think so. I don't remember adding in a third passport." Mario answered him as he started to figure it out "But I think I know who did just before we left the Mushroom Kingdom." Luigi realizes what he means and figured that it was Toadsworth has slipped it in right after meeting with Ichika. But as they figured it out, the Koopa was looking at their passports only to find them blank.

"But wait… WHAT?! There aren't any photos!" Camera Koopa gasped. "These won't get you into the Beanbean Kingdom! No sir, no way, no how!"

"Oh no!" The Mario Bros both shouted in worry.

"But how are we going to get into Beanbean Kingdom if our passports are blank?" Ichika asked in concern.

"Don't wig out about it, though. If we take your pictures here, you should be just fine." Camera Koopa answered him with a smile. "Since the Great Bowser has called you to the deck, I'll let you three cut the line." This was great news for them as Luigi replies with an "Oh yeah" and a "Got it" from Mario while Ichika nods. "Snapping photos is easy!" He then turns his attention to a mat on the floor and the boys noticed it too. "Just stand on that mat there. See it? Right there." The boys nodded as he returns behind the camera to take their picture. "Step onto the mat once you're ready! No hurry!"

"So who gets to go first?" Ichika asked the Mario Bros. "We still need to see Bowser on the deck, so we have to make this quick."

"I'll go first. It'll be quicker for us if we each get our pictures taken and head for the deck." Mario suggested as he steps on the mat and faces the camera.

"Now, Mr. Green 'Stache and dense idiot, you two step back." Camera Koopa issued as they did so. "OK! I'm gonna take it!" But just before he could take Mario's picture, he stopped and remembered something. "Oops! I forgot to tell you… Listen, when you're getting your picture taken, stand still. Don't go trying to hold a pose!" He goes behind the camera again. "And away we go! Ready? Say CHEEP CHEEP!"

"CHEEP CHEEP!" Mario smiled as he struck a pose while flipping his cap as the camera flashes.

"You're next, Mr. Green 'Stache." Camera Koopa said as Mario steps off the mat and lets Luigi get his picture taken. "And away we go!" But Luigi moved around. "Stand still, will ya? It's important. Don't go trying to hold a pose!" He returns to the camera. "And away we go! Say CHEEP CHEEP!"

"CHEEP CHEEP!" Luigi grinned as he struck a pose while snapping his fingers as the camera flashes.

"And that's two down. You're up next, dense guy." Camera Koopa said as Ichika walks onto the mat while Luigi joins his brother. "Ok, you know the drill." Ichika nods. "And away we go! Say CHEEP CHEEP!"

"CHEEP CHEEP!" Ichika said with a smile and closed eye as he struck a pose and crosses his arms as the camera flashes.

"Great! I've taken passport photos for all of you! Aren't we all happy now? Happy all around!" Camera Koopa said happily as Ichika and the Mario Bros thanked him and continued on towards the deck to meet up with Bowser.

* * *

After getting their pictures taken for their passports to enter the Beanbean Kingdom, our heroes made their way to the bottom part of the Koopa Cruiser to meet up with Bowser on the deck. Along the way, the trio meets up with the same Koopa Troopa back at Peach's castle just before taking off. The Koopa showed his appreciation to Mario by giving him a 1-UP Mushroom before the trio continued on. After moving around some cargo on the third level and clearing the path, our heroes reached the second level where more cargo was blocking the path to the deck.

"Oh no, there's some more cargo in the way. And it's blocking our path to the deck." Ichika gasped. "I don't think we'll be able to move all of that, it looks really heavy. How are we going to meet up with Bowser?"

"There's got to be a way to move all that cargo out of the way." Mario answered him. "Maybe one of the Koopas have a machine that can move the cargo and clear a path for us." He looks around until he stops two Koopas talking with each other and walked over to them. "Excuse-a me, we've got a problem. We're trying to reach the deck, but there's some cargo in the way. Is there any way to move them out of the way?"

"We were just talking about that and came up with a solution to the problem." Koopa Troopa 1 answered him. "You guys can use this switch to activate the Pinch Crane. I like to call it Mr. Pinch. Don't ask me why."

"Ok…" The trio said with the dull expressions and dotted eyes.

"And in case it's not really obvious, you should be able to use ol' Mr. Pinch to move that cargo." Koopa Troopa 1 instructed.

"Well, then what have we got to lose? It's our only option to get to the deck." Ichika said with a smile. "Let's use Mr. Pinch to remove the cargo and head for the deck where Bowser is waiting." The Mario Bros nodded as Mario walks over to the switch and pulls it to activate Mr. Pinch.

The Pinch claw comes on down as the trio moves out of the way so that they won't be grabbed by it. As Mr. Pinch moves over to the cargo, Luigi jumps around and gestures it to the cargo before waving his hat at it just as Mr. Pinch stops above him. The claw extends down towards Luigi and grabs him as Ichika and Mario were shocked to see this happen as it pulls Luigi upward while Mario tries to save his little brother.

"Uh-oh! Looks like the crane mistook you for cargo… That looks…uncomfortable." Koopa Troopa 2 winced. "Hey! Since you're up there, why don't we use you as a lookout!" Luigi can be heard crying as they decided to move the cargo the hard way.

* * *

**Koopa Cruiser deck**

* * *

Not long after clearing a path to the deck, Mario and Ichika finally meet up with Bowser while Luigi was acting as the lookout with a pair of binoculars while still being held by Mr. Pinch. Just then, a Koopa steps out from the ship and onto the deck before calling out to his king.

"Your Rancidness!" Koopa Troopa 3 called "We will soon pass over the border between the Mushroom and Beanbean Kingdoms."

"Hmm! Nice work! You can go back belowdecks. Now." Bowser ordered as the Koopa bows and heads back belowdeck. But just as soon as he did, Luigi spots something coming their way.

"OH NO!" Luigi yelled in fright.

"Eh? What's with all the hoopla?" Bowser asked confusedly before turning his attention to a projectile that hits the front of the ship and knocks him back while Luigi was loose from Mr. Pinch's grip and falls onto Bowser and jumping off. "RAWR! What now?" He then spots something as he walks over to the edge of the deck, only for a green being on a flying rocking chair comes into view.

"Eeeyah ha ha ha ha!" The witch laughs evilly "Who would've thought you'd catch up to the Great Cackletta in even a hundred million years?"

"You! You're the fiend who stole Peach's voice! How dare you pull off such a cool evil plan?" Bowser growled while Ichika and the Mario Bros just sweat dropped at that.

"Eeyah ha ha ha! Oh, I dare!" Cackletta cackles "And now I'm going straight back to the Beanbean Kingdom so my next plan can take root! I have no time to chat with the likes of you!" She about-face to call upon someone else to join her. "Fawful!" On her command, a green figure with a strange device on his head flies over to his mistress. "Take care of this!" She then flies off into the distance, straight into Beanbean Kingdom.

"GWAAAARRR! Hold it!" Bowser yelled as Fawful now confronts them.

"Eeeyah ha ha ha ha!" Fawful chortled "I am the great Cackletta's most best pupil, who is named Fawful! I am here, laughing at you! If you are giving us the chase just to get your silly princess's voice, then you are idiots of foolishness! Princess Peach's sweet voice will soon be the bread that makes the sandwich of Cackletta's desires! And this battle shall be the delicious mustard on that bread! The mustard of your doom!" The object on the top of Fawful's device activates and shoots out a projectile at Bowser and knocks him back while Ichika and the Mario Bros rushed over to him.

"Bowser!" The trio yelled in shock before looking back to discover Fawful was gone.

"Huh? Where did that weirdo go?" Ichika asked just as Fawful appears behind them and laughs to surprise them.

"Eeeyah ha ha ha ha!" Fawful laughed "Next is the turn of you!" Ichika and the Mario Bros got into battle stances as Fawful hovers towards them.

"Ichika! Stand back, we'll handle this!" Mario issued as he and his brother got into battle stances.

"Don't worry. I can fight too!" Ichika reassured him as he got to the Mario Bros' side. "I got my IS with me!" The Mario Bros were confused by this.

"IS?" Mario and Luigi asked at the same time in confusion.

"Byankushii, activate!" Ichika yelled as he called out his IS and got ready for battle. Mario and Luigi were surprised and amazed by this.

"Mama-mia, Ichika! I can tell you have grown." Mario smiled. "So do you know how to use that machine?"

"Of course!" Ichika winked. "They don't call me the best IS pilot next to my sister for nothing!" Ichika then pointed his sword at Fawful. "Now let's get back on the subject at hand. You and your master better give back the Princess's voice!"

Fawful laughed again. "Dense idiot who wields strange machine. It is I who will spell doom for you and your finkrat friends!" Fawful's device fired a energy ball at Ichika, who batted it away with his IS's sword. "Finkrat!" Fawful yelled as he fired another energy ball at Mario who leaped above it and upon landing again, he jumped up again and landed on Fawful two times, giving him medium damage.

"L-Let me try!" Luigi stammered for a bit before he toughen up and jumped up and landed on Fawful two times, giving him medium damage.

"Finkrat!" Fawful snarled as he fired another energy ball at Mario who leaped up above it. Mario nodded to Ichika who nodded back as he piloted Byankushii and slashed Fawful two times with his IS's sword. "I have fury!" Fawful yelled as he fired another energy ball at Luigi who was hit by it, but he recovered and jumped on Fawful two times, giving him medium damage. This temporary destroys the device on Fawful's head as he landed on the ground, but he was still showing that insane grin.

"Heh, this will be easy." Ichika smiled as Fawful tried to ram into him, but Ichika swatted him back with his IS's sword.

"Ooof!" Fawful grunted before he oddly laughed like a maniac but in fury "How could finkrats like you beat an nasty awful as me?" He turned to his left and shouted "Headgear!" as the headgear hovered above Fawful and he put it on again. Fawful yelled "I HAVE FURY!"

"What's that lunatic up to now?" Ichika asked as he tensed.

"I'm not sure, but something tells me that it can't be good." Mario answered him as Fawful hovers over them.

"Bah! Now is when the talking stops! I do not have to stop and smell foul roses such as you!" Fawful yelled in anger "One fell swoop is the way I will deal with you fink rats!" Fawful hovers back as his headgear starts firing energy blasts at the Koopa Cruiser while Ichika and the Mario Bros watched in horror. "Eeeyah ha ha ha ha!" He laughed as he flies off into the distance.

"Hey, you! Come back here now!" Mario shouted as the ship started to lose altitude from the damage cause by Fawful.

"Not good! The ship's going down!" Ichika shouted as he struggled to regain his balance. "That Fawful must've caused enough damage for it to start coming down! We have to abandon ship or we're done for!"

"But how are we going to escape from the ship?" Mario asked him. "Neither me or Luigi can fly and I doubt we've got enough time to look for a parachute! If only we had some Cape Feathers, then we'd be able to fly to safety!"

"Hold on, I think I might have an idea to get you guys off." Ichika said, getting an idea with a smile. "You guys can grab onto me and I can carry you to safety before the ship crashes. With the strength of my IS, it should be no problem carrying both of you."

"But what if we lose our grip and fall down?" Luigi asked fearfully. "We're really high up in the sky and I'm not sure what could be down there! I don't want to go to the great Italian restaurant in the sky!"

"Luigi, I know that you're scared, but we don't have any other choice." Mario said, trying to reassure his brother. "I know it's dangerous and there could be the possibility of us falling, but it's out only chance to escape. If we don't hurry and catch up to Fawful, then we'll never make it to Beanbean Kingdom to get Peach's voice back from Cackletta." Luigi hesitated about the idea of jumping off the ship and potentially falling to his doom, but seeing as there's no other way yo escape, he nods in agreement as he and Mario walked over to Ichika.

"Ok, now grab on and hang on tight. This is going to be a bumpy ride." Ichika smiled as the Mario Bros jumped onto his shoulders and held on while Ichika takes off from the Koopa Cruiser just before it explodes. However, the shockwave from the explosion causes Ichika to lose his balance as he tries to keep steady while making sure Mario and Luigi are safe. But the extra weight from both brothers are making it difficult for Ichika to straighten himself as they fall from the sky like a meteor.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

* * *

Down on the surface, our view turns to a mountainous region where both the night sky and the terrain gleam with stars. On the mountain floor, Houki was lying unconscious on the dusty ground but starts to wake up a few seconds later. Houki begins to open her eyes as she groans in pain while picking herself up from the ground.

"Ugh… my head… How the heck did I survive that fall…?" Houki asked with a moan as she shook her head. "And what happened to me? The last thing I remember was investigating that weird green pipe we saw in the alley and then…I'm not what happened after that." As she rubs her head to ease the pain, she had a jumpstart of her memory of what happened before. "Hold on, now I remember! We fell into that pipe when Ling was startled by that stray cat. Then after that, everything went black before I woke up and found myself here." She then looks around at her new surroundings. "Now that I think about it, where is here? I don't remember this place being in Japan. It looks like the night sky is on the ground, but I can still see it above me. Did I end up on a mountain or something?" She then also noticed that she was the only one in the area. "And more importantly, am I the only one here? Where is everyone else?" She stands back up and dusts herself off. "Well, if I'm going to find them, then I better get moving. I just hope that they're all OK." She starts walking down the path to search for her friends while also finding out where she is.

Further up from Houki's location, someone was looking through a long tunnel with a glass at the end that cuts the through the dark tunnel: it was a telescope. The lens of the telescope was scoping around the area until noticing three lights falling from the sky. The first light was red, the second light was green and third light was silver.

"General Starshade! A massive explosion has been sighted!" Male voice 1 reported.

"Conformation! I need conformation!" Male voice 2 known as General Starshade acknowledged as male 1 zooms in to see the same three lights falling from the sky.

"General Starshade! Meteorites confirmed!" Male 1 said as he said "meteorites" crashed into the surface with a loud impact. "Impact in Stardust Fields! Initiate recon! Emergency! Emergency!"

* * *

**Back with Houki**

* * *

While making her way through Stardust Fields, Houki heard the crash and nearly lost her balance from the impact but manages to keep herself steady by leaning against the wall to prevent herself from falling over. Once the rumbling stopped, Houki stands back up and looked ahead towards the location where the lights crashed and was curious.

"What was that? Did something just crashed?" Houki asked with a gasp. "It felt like meteors crashing into the earth, but where did they land? It felt really close, so the crash site can't be too far away. Maybe there could be someone who can help me find my friends." She heads for the location where the smoke from the impact. As she reaches the crash site, she spots a familiar sight laying on the ground along with two more she doesn't recognize. "Wait… is that Ichika? But if he's here, then the others must be here as well!" She rushes over to him to see if he was alright. "Hey, Ichika! Wake up! Are you alright?"

Upon hearing Houki's voice, Ichika stirs a little before opening his eyes to see her face looking down on him. "Houki…? Is that you? Is it really you?" He asked wearly while starting to regain consciousness from the fall.

"Yeah, it's me, Ichika. I'm just glad to see that you're still alive." Houki sighed in relief with a smile "I was worried that something bad might've happened when we fell into that pipe thing." She then turns to the other two while helping him back onto his feet.

"Yeah, same here. I was worried that you and the others were lost, but I'm glad that's not the case." Ichika agrees with a smile. "Now all that's left is to find the others and make sure they're all okay." Houki nods in agreement as he remembers something else. "Oh right, Mario, Luigi. I need to make sure if they're alright." He climbs up the ledge to where Luigi was while Houki was confused.

"Mario? Luigi? I've never heard of them. Who are they?" Houki asked in confusion as she followed him up the ledge while Ichika picks up Luigi in his arms.

"Hey, Luigi! Wake up! Come on, buddy!" Ichika pleaded as Luigi starts to stir as he opens his eyes.

"Mama-Mia… what a fall… I thought we were done for…" Luigi mumbled before noticing Ichika. "Ichika? Is that you? What happened to us? Are we still alive?"

"Yeah, we're alive, Luigi. We managed to survive our fall from the Koopa Cruiser." Ichika smiled. "And from the looks of it, we're still in one piece after Fawful tried to shoot us down with that headgear of his." He then noticed that someone else was missing. "Hey, weren't there three of us that fell out of the sky? Where's Mario?" Luigi also noticed and jumped back up while adjusting his cap.

"You're right, there was three of us. But I don't see Mario anywhere." Luigi answered him while looking around. "Mario! Where are you, bro?" He then looks ahead to see Mario's legs comically poking out from the ground. "Wah! There he is! Over there!" He runs over to help his brother.

"Ichika, what's going on here? Why are you helping that man that you've never met before?" Houki asked in confusion.

"It's a long story, Houki, but I can tell you that we're not in Japan anymore." Ichika answered her. "From what I've learn so far, we're in another world altogether and it's really a lot to take in. But if you really want to know more, I'm sure Mario and Luigi can fill you in on the details." They turned to Luigi as he pulls on his brother's leg in comical fashion before he flies out of the ground into the air and lands back down on top of Luigi.

"That's gonna leave a mark." Houki winced as Ichika nods in agreement. Mario looks around for Luigi unit he noticed the ground was moving and looked down to see his little brother underneath him just before jumping out of the ground. Ichika then walks over to them with Houki right behind him.

"Mario, I'm glad to see you and Luigi are alright." Ichika smiled in relief "I was a little worried that you two were hurt after Fawful shot the Koopa Cruiser down and we fell." Mario gave him a thumps up while Luigi smiles and rubs the back of his head. "So now that we're still in one piece, where did we crashed?"

"From the looks of it, we must be in Stardust Fields." Mario answered his question. "Fawful must've shot us down here while trying to stop us, but to our luck, we're not too far from the border. Now it's just a short stroll to the border and we'll be in Beanbean Kingdom." Luigi jumps for joy as Houki walks up to them.

"Ichika, who are these guys?" Houki asked as she looked at the Mario Bros confusedly.

"Oh right, I still haven't introduced you to them yet." Ichika remembered as he smiled and introduced the Mario Bros. "Houki, I'd like you to meet Mario and Luigi, the Mario Bros. I've met them right after I came to this world." He then turns to the Mario Bros. "Mario, Luigi, I'd like you to meet my childhood friend, Houki Shinonono. She's one of the friends I was separated from when I arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom." Mario tips his hat to Houki while Luigi waves at her.

"Oh, so you made a second childhood friend there, Ichika." Mario commented with a smiled. "It's nice to know that you've other friends after you when you returned back to your world." Luigi nodded in agreement while Houki was confused.

"Hold on, what do you mean by that?" Houki asked in confusion and shock.

"Oh, me, bro, Ichika and Princess Peach were childhood friends when he first came to the Mushroom Kingdom." Luigi tells her as he explained. "We've played around together a lot and had tons of fun. But eventually, Ichika had to go back to his world and we never saw him again."

"But if you guys and Ichika were childhood friends, how do you know him and what was your relationship with him?" Houki asked again.

"As much as we want to tell you, I'm afraid it'll have to wait for now." Mario reminded her "We still need to make it to Beanbean Kingdom, but we'll explain everything along the way. We need to catch up to Cacklette and get the Princess' voice." Ichika and Luigi nodded while Houki was still confused.

"Someone stole this Princess' voice? How does that work?" Houki asked in confusion.

"I'm not to sure myself, but I'll explain what I know so far." Ichika begins to explain. "From what Toadsworth and the Mario Bros told me, someone by the name of Cacklette infiltrated the Mushroom Kingdom as an ambassador and manages to steal the Princess' voice. Now she fled to the Beanbean Kingdom with her voice for something we're not sure of yet." That made Houki both shocked and angry.

"I can't believe that evil witch! What makes her think that she can just steal their ruler's voice?!" Houki growled in anger. "If that witch thinks she can just get away with this, then she's got another thing coming!" She turns to Mario. "Mario, would it be alright if I can join you guys in your quest to find this Cacklette?"

"Of course, Houki. We'd be more than happy to have you join us." Mario answered happily "We can definitely use all the help we can get in finding her and retrieving Peach's voice back. So you're help is greatly appreciated."

"Thanks, Mario. I'm glad that I can help in any way I can." Houki smiled back with a wink. "And plus, we might find the rest of our friends who are still missing. They could be in the Beanbean Kingdom." Ichika nods in agreement as he and Houki join with the Mario Bros.

"Ok, paisanos, let's-a go! We need to enter through the border gates and find Cacklette." Mario said with a smile. "Once we're in the Beanbean Kingdom, we'll need to keep our guard up. There's no telling what Cacklette have set for us once we're across the border. You ready?" Houki, Ichika and Luigi all nodded, though the latter was still nervous. "Then here we go!" With that said, they all head towards the border gates.

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Next time: Stardust Fields: Helping Bowser and Reunited with Cecilia**

**A/n: How do you like that? Anyway, next time, our heroes help Bowser and reunite with Cecilia. So see you next time!**


	2. Stardust Fields

**A/n: So far so good. Here is Chapter 2.**

**Chapter 2: Stardust Fields: Helping Bowser and Reunited with Cecilia**

* * *

Not long after crashing into Stardust Fields and meeting up with Houki, our heroes were making their way to the border gates in order to enter the Beanbean Kingdom. Along the way, Mario and Luigi explained everything that has happened up until meeting with Houki. They explained how Cacklette stole the Princess' voice while posing as an ambassador from said kingdom, having a brief scuffle with Bowser at the castle, boarding Bower's new airship to fly them towards Beanbean Kingdom and finally encountering the witch and her second in command Fawful who manages to shoot down Bowser's ship.

"So that's why you guys fell from the sky and landed here in Stardust Fields? Because you were shot down by this Fawful guy?" Houki asked them. "And this Cackletta posed as the ambassador of the Beanbean Kingdom, the place where we're heading for, stole your ruler's voice for a purpose you don't know of?"

"That's right, Houki. And now we're trying to get Peach's voice back before anything bad happens." Mario answers her with a nod. "We're lucky that we landed not too far from the border to the Beanbean Kingdom, but it seems that it also gave them a chance to get ahead of us after Fawful shot us down. There's no telling what they've got planned for her voice."

"So what are we going to do if we find them in the Beanbean Kingdom?" Houki asked again.

"We'll have to save that for later, right now we just need to make it to the border." Ichika stepped in "Once we cross the border, we'll be in Beanbean Kingdom." He then turns to Mario. "So Mario, if Cackletta disguised herself as an ambassador for Beanbean Kingdom, does that mean there's a ruler over there?"

"Yes, there is. There's Queen Bean and her son Prince Peasley, the rulers of the Beanbean Kingdom." Mario answered him as he began explaining. "Much like Princess Peach, they rule over their kingdom with the love and kindness to their people. Though I don't know about them much as this is the first time we'll meet them in person." Both Ichika and Houki nodded, but Luigi has just realized something.

"Hey guys, I just realized something terrible…" Luigi said timidly.

"What's that, Luigi?" Houki asked him in concern.

"If Cackletta was able to disguise herself as the ambassador and managed to sneak into the Mushroom Kingdom, could that also mean she has already gotten to Queen Bean and Prince Peasley as well?" Luigi theorized with a timid frown. "It could make a lot of sense why she came to the Mushroom Kingdom disguised as the ambassador and steal her voice." His brother and the two IS pilots all thought about it for a second before realizing he was right.

"Mama Mia! You're right, Luigi!" Mario gasped in shock. "If she was able to sneak into the Mushroom Kingdom without any trouble, that must mean the Beanbean Kingdom is also in danger! If that witch has already gotten to the queen and prince, then there's no telling what sort of damage she caused!"

"Then we better step on it towards the boarder and crossover to the kingdom." Ichika said with a serious frown. "There may still be time lift to help them once we make it across the boarder. Maybe we might also find the rest of our friends along the way." Houki and the Mario Bros nodded in agreement as they made a run towards the border as it looms in the distance.

* * *

Upon reaches the entrance to the boarder, Ichika, Houki and the Mario Bros stood before a wooden bridge as they looked up at a castle like structure on the the other side of the bridge.

"Is that the border to the Beanbean Kingdome?" Houki asked.

"Yeah, that's the one. And once we cross it, we'll be in the Beanbean Kingdom." Mario answered her as he remembered what Luigi said. "But if what Luigi said is true, then Beanbean might be in trouble as well. I just hope that we're not too late to help them."

"I'm more concerned about what we'll find once we cross the border." Houki stepped in "If this Cackletta already has attacked Beanbean Kingdom, who knows what shape it could be in. She might've also stationed some of her minions to slow us down from catching up to her."

"Maybe, but we'll just have to see for ourselves what has happened." Ichika said while looking at the border. "We'll also have to prepare ourselves for whatever Cackletta has planned for us the moment we step over the border." Houki and the Mario Bros nodded in agreement as they started crossing the bridge and entered the boarder.

Once entering the border, it was a large circular room with a mat on the floor, the floor has two different colors, red for the Mushroom Kingdom and green for the Beanbean Kinddom, a picture of the old castle with a flagpole just before it, and two banners for both kingdoms on their respected sides. In the center of the room, two Hammer Bros were waiting for them while holding a rope from both ends. The group noticed them as they greeted them.

"Well, well! Talk about a nice surprise! Check it out, Bro!" Hammer Bro 1 said with a smile. "It looks like the famous Mario Bros. have arrived!"

"Man! That really brings back memories, doesn't it? Good times… Good times." Hammer Bro 2 smiled "So what's up, brothers M? Are you two heading off on a journey together?" He then noticed Ichika and Houki with them. "And I take it that those two are coming along with you guys?"

"Mm-hm, that's right. They're friends of ours." Mario answered him with a nod. "We're trying to enter the Beanbean Kingdom and we're hoping you two could let us through." His brother, Ichika and Houki all nodded in agreement.

"Oh… So, you probably want us to let you pass, huh?" Hammer Bro 1 questioned before he nodded in understanding. "Yeah, well, I'm sure you guys know this is the border of the Mushroom Kingdom." The Mario Bros and the IS pilots all nodded. "That's right, it's the border, and since we're the border security, we can't let you in…" The four heroes all tensed for a moment. "…until you do some jumping worthy of the Mario Bros. name!"

"Jumping? Is that all we need to do?" Houki asked while raising her eyebrows in humor. "That doesn't sound too difficult."

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet, missy." Hammer Bro 1 said with a chuckle. "The jumping ability of the Mario Bros are legendary around these parts. They've been jumping their way into folks' hearts ever since the very beginning. And believe us, these two are the best of the best when it comes to jumping." His brother nodded in agreement as both Mario Bros were a little embarrassed by the praise.

"Wow, I had no idea you guys were that famous." Houki smiled as she placed her hand on her hip. "So, you two have been jumping your way into people's hearts ever since the beginning and that is what made you two legendary. Remind me to get an autograph from you two later." Everyone chuckled at her joke.

"Well, we don't like to brag, but yes, our jumping is what made us famous." Mario replied with a nervous chuckle. "We've been at this for the last thirty years or so and it's been that way ever since. So, everyone knows us because of our jumping abilities." Luigi nodded in agreement as the Hammer Bros walked over to them and the former jumped over the rope as did Houki.

"And now, we're about to see those jumping skills in action." Hammer Bro 1 said with a grin. "We'll be pulling the rope to both sides and all you guys have to do is jump. But if either of you guys mess up three times, we'll have to start over. So is everyone ready?" Everyone nodded. "Ok, then here we go!"

The Hammer Bros dragged the rope to Mario and Ichika who jumped over before going in the opposite way for Mario and Ichika to jump again followed by Luigi and Houki. They repeat the process two more times until the Hammer Bros decided to switch it up. After Luigi and Houki jumped over the rope, the Hammer Bros stopped halfway and went back towards them as they jumped and pulled it back towards both sides again. After that, the Hammer Bros looped around and pulled the rope to both groups back and forth. After that, the Hammer Bros looped around again and pulled it again from the opposite side and the results were the same. After pulling it back to Luigi and Houki, the jumping contest was now over.

"Man! Very cool! That was some incredible jumping!" Hammer Bro 1 cheered as everyone turned towards the castle picture and the flag on the flagpole ascends to the top and little fireworks appeared. The Mario Bros and the IS pilots were now on the left side of the room with the Hammer Bros on the right. "Just beyond here is the Beanbean Kingdom. You guys be extra careful when traveling there."

"We will." The heroes all said in unison with smiles before exiting the border crossing.

* * *

Upon exiting the border, our heroes crossed over the bridge and onto the other side of Stardust Fields that continues on towards the Beanbean Kingdom.

"Well, that sure did went better than expected." Ichika said with closed eyes and smile "Nice to know that those guys can let us pass without too much trouble. Maybe it's a good thing that we're traveling with some famous heroes." Houki nods in agreement as the Bros were a little embarrassed.

"Come on, we're not that famous. We just want to help people in need." Mario said with an embarrassed chuckle "It's because of our constant battles with Bowser and any other force that has threaten the Mushroom Kingdom on more than one occasion. Overtime, we became the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom and now everyone knows about us."

"Man, you guys must've fought a lot of enemies over the years to become the heroes that everyone knows and loves." Houki smiled. "I can definitely see why those two wanted us to jump, it's to see your jumping skills in action. And once they did, they let us pass on through to the Beanbean Kingdom." Everyone then looked ahead to see their destination in the distance.

"And speaking of which, we're getting closer to our destination." Ichika said with a determined smile. "Now all that's left to do is to continue on and reach the kingdom to find Cackletta and Fawful. And hopefully the rest of our friends along the way and get back the Princess's voice." Houki and the Mario Bros all nodded in agreement and were just about to continue on until…

"Hold up, guys!" A familiar voice called out. Our heroes turned around to see the Hammer Bro security guard walking up to the. "Since we've been on duty, you four are the first people to cross our border. I mean, EVER!"

"Wait, really?! No one has ever crossed your border since you've been on duty?" Houki gasped in shock.

"Yep, and that's also the reason why we came out to catch you guys before you left." Hammer Bro 1 answered her with a nod. "We've gotta commemorate this occasion by giving you this!" He walks over to Luigi and hands him a map of the Beanbean Kingdom.

"A map? You're giving us a map of the kingdom?" Luigi asked as he looked at it.

"Yep, to help you guys get around the Beanbean Kingdom more easily without getting lost." Hammer Bro 1 answered him. "As long as you guys have a map, you'll feel safer in foreign lands, right?" Everyone nodded in agreement. "Well, I better get back to work now. This border isn't going to protect itself. Have a safe journey, you four." The Hammer Bro turns around and walks back into the border as Luigi waves at him with his hat.

"Ok, now that we've got a map, we'll know where to go once we're in the kingdom." Mario said with a smile. "So now that we're all set, is everyone ready to go?" His brother and the IS pilots all nodded in agreement. "Ok, then let's-a go!" Our heroes continued on towards the Beanbean Kingdom to bring Peach's voice back and save the people of the kingdom from Cackletta's clutches while also finding more of their friends along the way.

* * *

Not long after crossing the border and receiving a map of the Beanbean Kingdom, our heroes continued on towards their destination in catching up with Cackletta and Fawful while also trying to find the rest of Ichika and Houki's friends. Along the way, our heroes had to jump over spikes on the ground. Jumping down from ledges. And fighting some enemies that pops out of nowhere.

"Hey, Ichika, Houki. There's something I've been meaning to ask you two." Mario said as they continued down the path.

"And what's that, Mario?" Ichika questioned.

"Who are these other friends you've mentioned back at Peach's Castle?" Mario asked him. "You've mentioned that you weren't the only one to arrive in the Mushroom Kingdom and we've already found Houki not too long ago. We were wondering if you can tell us their names so that it'll be easier to know who they are." Luigi nodded in agreement as both IS pilots realized that would help.

"Now that you mentioned it, we never did told you their names." Houki nods in agreement. "We've only mentioned that we're looking for them, but never once mentioned their names. So it would be easier to tell you two their names so that you'd know when we find them."

"Not a bad idea, Houki. It'll make the search for them a lot easier if Mario and Luigi knew their names." Ichika agrees with a smile. "That way, they'll know who our friends are and not be confused when we do find them. So, it's best that we tell you guys their names as soon as we find them…?" Ichika stopped himself as he looks ahead and sees a large black object on a hill just pass the bridge. "Hey, what's that thing?"

"What's what? What are you talking about, Ichika?" Houki asked while raising an eyebrow.

"That. The large black thing on the other side of the bridge." Ichika answered and points to the object. "There's even a pair of legs sticking out from the top. I think someone's stuck in that thing." Houki and the Mario Bros looked at where Ichika was pointing and noticed legs protruding out from the object.

"You're right, there is someone in that black thing. It could be Bowser." Mario agrees with him. "This is where he must've fell after Fawful destroyed the Koopa Cruiser. Let's head over there and see if we can help him." His brother and the IS pilots all nodded in agreement as they crossed the bridge and climbed up the steps.

"Yep, that's Bowser alright. He definitely survived the Koopa Cruiser being shot down and landed here on the other side of the border." Ichika said while looking at the object in confusion "But how did he managed to get himself stuck in there? And how are we going to get him out?"

"Like this." Mario answered him as he jumps up onto Bowser's bottom half and bounces with some coins coming out. Bowser felt that as his legs and tail retracts into the object and flips around to let his head out. "There you are, Bowser! Glad to know that you're still in one piece."

"Hey! Mario! Ichika! Great timing! I could use a hand here! I'm kind of…stuck." Bowser said in embarrassment.

"We can definitely see that, big guy. You sure are stuck in that thing." Ichika said while holding back his laughter. "So what made you stuck in there? Been eating too much?"

"Look here, bozo, keep your diet jokes to yourself! They're not funny! Just get me out of here!" Bowser shouted in anger as an anger vein appeared on his forehead.

"Alright, alright. Keep your shell on, we'll get you out." Houki sighed. "So how are we going to get him out of that thing? Since it can flip around, maybe we can push him out from his bottom half?" Before anyone could answer, a large Spike drops down on the other side of the gap. "What the heck?! Who or what are you?"

"Nyeck Nyeck Nyeck!" The Spike chortled "Why, could it be that Bowser, the great Koopa King, has fallen into my cannon?! Nyeck! How amusing!"

"Wh-Who dares speak to me so?" Bowser demanded nervously.

"Nyeck nyeck nyeeeck! I am Tolstar, the great and famed king of Stardust Fields!" Tolstar boasted "I've heard tales of you, but you aren't very impressive in person! Nyeeeck nyeck nyeck!"

"Hey, that's just plain rude, you jerk!" Houki yelled in anger. "What gives you the right to just talk down to him like that? How would you like it if this happened to you and someone else was laughing at your pain?"

"Nyeck nyeck! Like that would ever happen to me, little miss angry girl!" Tolstar refuted. "Nyeck nyeck! If you want me to get him out of there, little people, you must pay in coins! I will set him free… for ALL of your coins!"

"ALL OF THEM?!" The heroes shouted in shock.

"That's right, all of them! Nyeck nyeck nyeeeck!" Tolstar answered them with a grin. "And I'll even keep this most embarrassing incident a secret!"

"Wh-What?! THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Bowser cried.

"Hold on there, Tolstar. Maybe we can work something out." Mario reasoned. "You said that if we give you all of our coins to free Bowser, then so be it. We'll give you all of our coins to free Bowser from your cannon."

"Pardon me? I'm not sure I heard you correctly just now! You'll give me all 116 of your coins?" Tolstar raised an eyebrow as Mario takes out his coin bag and tosses it over.

"Mario, are you sure about this? Giving him all our coins like that?" Ichika asked him skeptically "I know it's to free Bowser from the cannon, but are you sure that this is a good idea?"

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but Bowser's just as worried about Peach as we are. Even though he wouldn't admit it himself." Mario answered him. "So at the very least, we can help him out by getting him out of that cannon and we can focus on catching up to Cackletta after." Ichika, Houki and Luigi all nodded as they turned to Tolstar who was counting the coins in the bag.

"Nyeck nyeck nyeeeck! Why, this are Mushroom Kingdom coins, aren't they?" Tolstar asked as he inspected them. "This is the BEANBEAN Kingdom! …I suppose I'll have to calculate their value in the local currency!" Tolstar takes out a calculator and begins calculating the value of the Mushroom Kingdom coins to the Beanbean Kingdom currency.

"Do you think that this'll work? Giving him all those coins just to free Bowser?" Houki asked as she crossed her arms and pondered. "If he finds out that those coins don't have any value here, what do we do after that? I don't think he'll even let us pass if this backfires."

"We'll just have to hope for the best and see what the outcome is." Mario reassured her. "If he does find out that the coins don't have any value in the Beanbean Kingdom, then we'll find another way. So cross your fingers and let's see what he has to say." His brother and the IS pilots stayed silent as they all turned toTolstar.

"Let's see… At today's exchange rate…116 Mushroom coins… are worth 10 Beanbean coins!" Tolstar declared. "Well, sorry, but for only 10 coins I can't guarantee this secret won't slip out! Nyeck nyeck!"

"You've got to me kidding me! All of those coins from Mario's home are only worth less than the coins here?" Houki asked in disbelief.

"…Yes, that means I'll need an additional 100 Beanbean coins!" Tolstar answered as he added. "Go find them in Stardust Fields and bring them back to me! Then I'll help your Koopa King!"

"But how are we going to do that? There's no way can continue on from here." Ichika questioned.

"In that case, I'll open the way for you to the rest of Stardust Fields." Tolstar jumps up and slams back down to let a bridge open up. "Now you guys can search through the other side of the fields and find the coins you need. Once you find them all, come back to me and mayyyybe I'll help out King Tubby here." He gestures to Bowser who was still crying anime tears.

"Don't you worry, we'll find those coins and free Bowser." Mario nods. "Just make sure you keep your end of the bargain by the time we come back. We'll be back with the coins." Tolstar nods as our heroes jumps down from the platform and head across the bridge Tolstar just opened to another part of Stardust Fields.

* * *

Not long after finding Bowser and meeting with Tolstar, our heroes head even further into Stardust Fields to search for 100 Beanbean coins in order for the latter to get the Koopa King out of his cannon and they can continue on towards the Beanbean Kingdom.

"Ok, so now that we're in the other side of the Stardust Fields, how the heck are we going to find 100 Beanbean coins for Tolstar?" Houki asked as she crossed her arms and began to think. "I know we agreed to find them to get Bowser out of the cannon, but where are we going to start looking? It's not like we can just find them laying on the ground." The Mario Bros chuckled from that comment.

"Funny you should mention that, Houki. That's kinda been how we've always searched for coins." Mario said with a smile. "We always find them inside of blocks most of the time and even when we find secret rooms. So in a way, we can find them just lying on the ground." Both Ichika and Houki were now even more confused than before.

"Wait, seriously? That's how you guys find coins? Inside of blocks or secret rooms?" Ichika asked, his eyes turned white dotted after hearing that before returning to normal. "How does that even work? There's no way that they're that easy to find, right?"

"Don't worry, guys, they're not always easy to find." Mario answered him with a chuckle. "They're usually hidden away in Bowser's fortresses and castle guarded by his minions. One of them would usually be carrying the key and we'd have to find them and take the key from them." Luigi nods in agreement.

"I guess that makes much more sense when you put it that way, but that still doesn't help our current situation." Houki said with a slight frown. "Where and how are we going to find the coins we need to free Bowser from that cannon he's stuck in? It could take all day to find them and we have no idea where to start looking."

"I'm sure we'll find them one way or another. We'll just have to search around Stardust Fields until we find just enough to help Bowser." Mario reassured her. "Once we do, we can continue heading for Beanbean Kingdom and finding the rest of your friends." His brother and the two IS pilots all nodded in agreement and started the search.

* * *

As Houki predicted, it took much of the day to search for the Beanbean coins they needed to free Bowser from the cannon and continue on with their chase of Cackletta and Fawful while also finding Ichika and Houki's friends. Our heroes searched high up on ridges, down low on pathways while jumping over some pointed rocks, and even hits some Question Mark blocks and fighting more enemies. But so far, they've only managed to find about 99 Beanbean coins and need to find only one more in order to pay Tolstar to free Bowser.

"Ok, that's about all of the coins we need to pay Tolstar. Now all we need is to find one more and we can head back." Mario said with a smile as he counted the Beanbean coins. "And once we do, we'll be able to free Bowser and continue on. Hopefully without anymore distractions along the way."

"After all the stupidity we've went through in searching for those coins, there better not be…" Houki sighed in exhaustion. "It took all day to find them and it wasn't really a walk in the park. I had no idea that finding them would be this tedious and annoying at the same time."

"And finding them was the easy part, how we got them was real challenge." Ichika agrees with a nod. "I didn't think that you'd had to hit some of those blocks multiple times just to get them. I think there was a show that made fun of this and that character even got a concussion from it."

"Really? And what show would that be?" Luigi asked curiously.

"Not sure, but I know it involves Batman's sidekick with his own team of superheroes." Ichika answered him as he explains "I think he was literally using his head to get some money out of a block the same way you guys did, but he got a concussion the more times he does that."

"He does know that we don't really use our heads, right? We use our hands to hit the block and we don't hurt ourselves in the process." Mario said with an amused smile.

"I think that's the joke. The episode itself was meant to make fun of some classic video games of the time." Ichika told him as he added "Though while the show itself wasn't that well-liked by a lot of people, I think some of them did like how it references and parodies some of the classic video games that were popular back in the day."

"I see, that does sounds interesting. And a little disturbing how our world was made fun of by this show." Mario said with a smile. "But if it was just a joke, I'm sure it's all in good fun." Both Ichika and Houki nodded in agreement as Luigi noticed a bridge that leads further in.

"Hey, Luigi, whatcha looking at over there?" Houki asked him.

"There's a bridge just down this ridge. It looks like it leads deeper into Stardust Fields." Luigi answered her.

"Really? Are you sure, Luigi?" Ichika asked him.

"No doubt about it, it leads deeper into Stardust Fields and I think it's the end of the fields." Luigi answered him as he added "Do you think we'll find the last coin there to free Bowser?"

"Only one way to find out. Let's cross that bridge and see what's on the other side." Mario suggested. "If we're lucky, we may find the last coin we need and maybe one of your friends as well. But we'll need to be on guard, there's no telling who or what else we may find once we cross the bridge." His brother and the IS pilots all nodded in agreement and crossed the bridge, though Luigi being the most nervous out of everyone but still crossed over.

* * *

After crossing the bridge, our heroes found themselves in an area with some old oil drums and a staircase made of worn-out sandbags stacked up against the wall. At the top of the ridge and between two pillars, there's a metal star shaped door on the ground that seems to be out of place in comparison to the more rugged terrain of Stardust Fields.

"This looks like the end of the line. There's no way to continue on from here." Houki muttered as she looked around. "And I don't see any coins around here, all there is just some old sandbags and oil drums. Maybe we should turn back and look somewhere else."

"You're probably right, Houki. It doesn't look like we'll find anything here." Ichika agrees with a nod. "Maybe we can try the area where we've entered after going through the border. We might find some more coins from the spots we haven't checked yet."

"We might as well, it doesn't look like we can continue on." Mario also agrees "We'll have yo double back the way we came in and head for the boarder. We might even find more coins along the way and have more than enough to free Bowser." The two IS pilots both nodded in agreement and were about to leave until noticing Luigi looking at a sign on the upper level.

"Hey, Luigi? What's up? What are you reading up there?" Ichika asked curiously.

"I'm reading this weird sign that seems to be up here. I think that someone is around here." Luigi answered him as he gestures to the sign.

"Really? There's someone here? What does the sign read?" Houki asked as she crossed her arms and looked at Luigi with raised eyebrows.

"It reads Stardust Fields Area 64. I even found a star shaped door in the ground here. Come up here and check it out." Luigi answered her as his brother and the IS pilots climbed up the sandbags and joined Luigi at the metal door in the ground.

"That's strange, why would there be a metal door in the shape of a star here?" Ichika asked in confusion as he scratched his head. "And if there is someone here, what's the purpose of this door?"

"I'm not sure, but we might find some answers if we get closer. There could be someone down there who can help us." Mario answered him as they moved in closer to the metal door.

Once Mario's shoe steps onto the metal door, there was a loud sound that made the plumber pull his leg back as the door opens up and two Toads arrive on a lift. The Toad with red stars was standing on top of the Toad with green starts and both wore sunglasses and blue vests. The four heroes looked up at the two Toads with confusion.

"Ok? Who are these guys? And why do they have the same colors as you two?" Houki asked in confusion, but just before anyone could answer her, the red stared Toad salutes.

"Sergeant Starshade! The shooting stars we just witnessed were an alien bombardment! …Perhaps!" Red Toad reported.

"Perhaps? And what does he mean alien bombardment?" Ichika asked with a sweat drop as Houki and the Mario Bros shrugged while the red Toad continued on.

"In the name of the Starshade Bros., we will find the alien scum! They will rue the day!" Red Toad said bravely.

"Alien scum? Starshade Bros? What is he talking about?" Houki asked in confusion with an question mark above her head.

"I don't know, but their position gives me an idea. We could use it as a way to get their attention." Mario answered her as he leans over to his brother and whispers in his ear. Luigi nods in agreement as Mario jumps onto his shoulders and are about the same height as the Starshade Bros.

"What are you guys doing? How is this going to get their attention?" Houki asked in even more confusion.

"Just trust us on this, Houki. It our only chance to get any answers." Mario answered her with a smile just as the green stared Toad pulls out a telescope and looks directly at Luigi.

"General Starshade! Sir! I have confirmed the presence of suspicious unknown entity!" Sgt. Starshade reported. "It is a vivid green color that pierces the eye!" General Starshade takes out his own telescope as the Mario Bros moved to the right.

"Hmm! Yes! Sighting confirmed! However, I see not green, but red!" General Starshade reported with a gasp "Urgent! Pursue additional visual contact immediately!" The Mario Bros centered themselves in front of the Starshade Bros and moved back just as they put away their telescopes.

A question mark appears above General Starshade's head as he and his brother moved to the right with the Mario Bros mimicking them. The same happened when moving to the left and to the right again before returning to the center. Another question mark appears above the General's head as the pair of brothers moved in closer. General Starshade started moving his head as Mario mimicked his every movement before ending with a weird face. General Starshade crossed his arms and leans his hip to the right and Mario mimics him again. Both pairs moved back as the Starshade Bros moved their arms and the Mario Bros mimicked them again. Both pairs moved back as the Starshade Bros started spinning like helicopter, but only Mario was able to mimic them and spins right into them and created a thick cloud from the impact.

"Oh! Incredible! It is none other than Mario from the Mushroom Kingdom!" General Starshade reported with a happy gasp.

"Luigi sighting confirmed!" Sgt. Starshade agrees.

"Sgt. Starshade! Change of mission objective! Obtain autographs, STAT!" General Starshade as he and Sgt. Starshade got out autographs. Ichika and Houki sweat dropped with dotted eyes upon seeing that.

* * *

A little later

* * *

After revealing who they were, our heroes explained everything to the Starshade Bros about the real reason why they're in Stardust Fields and that they're on the pursuit of Cackletta to recover Peach's voice, but were shot down by the witch's righthand man Fawful and had crash-landed in Stardust Fields. So now they have to make their way to Beanbean Kingdom on foot to catch up with them before they could use her voice for whatever they've got planned.

"Hmm… I see…" General Starshade said while nodding in understanding. "Incredible! To think… Princess Peach's lovely voice in the hands of some vile enemy! Her voice must be recovered, no matter what it takes! Priority one, Sergeant Starshade! We must provide as much field support as we can!"

"Very well! We Starshade Bros. will teach will teach you the secrets of Bros. Actions!" Sergeant Starshade agrees with a nod. "Master Mario! Master Luigi! Special Bros Action training shall commence immediately!"

"Special Bros Action training?" The four asked in unison.

"Affirmative. This training will allow both Master Mario and Master Luigi to use certain skills that can be useful throughout your journey." General Starshade answered them "But I believe it's more fitting to show you rather than explain it to you." He then looks towards the two IS pilots. "You two can come along and wittiness our training as well. Follow us to our training grounds." The four heroes all nodded as they boarded the lift with the Starshade Bros as it lowered back down into the bunker.

* * *

Stardust Fields Training Grounds

* * *

The bunker door opens up as the lift with our heroes and the Starshade Bros arrived at their destination. There was two separate platforms with a wooden bridge connecting the lower part and a starting point where the Starshade Bros were on one side and Mario Bros were on the other with both IS pilots watching from the lift.

"Here we are, this is our training ground." General Starshade explained. "Here is where we'll be teaching you two about Special Bros actions that could help you in your journey of retrieving Peach's voice." He turns to his brother. "Sergeant Starshade, if you would be so kind."

"Sir, yes, sir!" Sergeant Starshade saluted "When you wish to jump up to a high ledge, Luigi can jump on Mario to perform a High Jump. Now Master Luigi, jump onto Master Mario's shoulders. Like so." He jumps onto his brother's head as a demonstration. "Now the moment when Luigi lands on Mario's shoulders, Mario can follow up with his own jump for a greater height." General Starshade jumps up much higher and lands on the platform. "See? You can jump higher than you can on your own! Indeed, it's jumping synergy! Do you two understand it?"

"Yes, we do!" The Mario Bros answered them with a nod.

"Very well. Now it's your turn to perform the High Jump." General Starshade said. "Luigi, you jump onto Mario's shoulders just as we demonstrated. Use the High Jump you've just learned to reach the ledge on the right!"

"Okie dokie! You ready, bro?" Luigi asked with a smile.

"I'm ready when you are, Luigi." Mario answered him with a smile as well.

With that said, Luigi jumps onto Mario's shoulders whom then uses his own jump to go even higher and lands on the ledge right next to the Starshade Bros who were watching them perform the skill. After landing on the ledge, the Mario Bros turned to the Starshade Bros for the next phase of their training.

"Excellent work, men!" Sergeant Starshade saluted "If you use your High Jump, you can climb ledges that you could never climb alone!" The Mario Bros double high-five each other as both Ichika and Houki clapped for them.

"Next I'm going to show you another type of jump!" General Starshade said as he began explaining. "For this maneuver, take the same position as you would with the High Jump, but with Mario on Luigi's shoulders. This is what's known as the Spin Jump." The Starshade Bros swapped positions where General Starshade jumps onto his brother's head. "See? You ride piggyback! Now if Mario spins as he did before, Luigi has to hold on tight for him to be lifted off the ground and you two spin through the air together!" The Starshade Bros started spinning like a helicopter. "Now shift your weight in the direction you wish to move through the air." The Starshade Bros shifted their weight to hover over the gap and reach the ledge on the other side.

"It is possible to use this Spin Jump to jump across wide valleys and dangerous pits!" Sergeant Starshade said as he added "It can also be useful when you need to get out of a sticky situation that requires some quick thinking. Do you two understand our demonstration?" The Mario Bros nodded again.

"Very well, Mario! Then you use the Spin Jump to reach the ledge on the right!" General Starshade issued.

"Okie-dokie. Let's-a go, Luigi!" Mario said with a smile as he jumps onto his brother's shoulders.

Once Luigi grabs hold of Mario's legs, Mario spins around like a helicopter and shifts his weight to the right as they hover over the gap and reach the ledge on the other side. Once they've landed, Mario jumps down from Luigi shoulders and turned to the Starshade Bros.

"Excellent!" General Starshade saluted.

"See, boys, actions that the two of you perform together are called Bros Action!" Sergeant Starshade said as he explained "Whenever you two or your friends encounters an obstacle that can't be overcome by one person, use the skills we've taught you and you'll overcome it together! Remember that! There are more actions that only brothers like you can perform!"

"Training complete!" General Starshade said as the Mario Bros retuned to the IS pilots.

"Hey guys, glad that your training is now complete." Ichika smiled as he and Mario fist bumped each other. "Those guys sure weren't kidding about those Bros Actions they showed us. It seems that only brothers like you two can only perform them in situations that requires either one. They can be useful in reaching places we couldn't before."

"Mm-hm, it does seems that way. We'll need to use them to the best of our abilities." Mario agrees with a smile. "We could definitely use them in the areas around Stardust Fields that we couldn't reach before. Though I'm sure your IS could definitely be just as useful in situations where the High Jump or Spin Jump can't reach." His brother and the IS pilots nodded in agreement as the Starshade Bros walks up to them.

"Pardon us, but we couldn't help but notice your friends' outfits." General Starshade said as he looked at Ichika and Houki "They look similar to someone that we've found some time ago. I believe she mentioned about searching for her friends, but doesn't know where they are after she was separated from them." That made both Ichika and Houki gasp in shock as they knew what he was talking about.

"Someone else with s similar outfit to us? Are you sure?" Houki asked in shock "What else does she has that stands out from her?"

"She has long light blonde hair, light blue eyes, a blue headband and a blue earring." General Starshade answered her as he added "I believe she also speaks with an accent that doesn't seem familiar to me. I take it that she's someone that you know?"

"Yeah, we do know here. That's Cecilia Alcott." Ichika answered him with a nod. "She's another of our friends we were separated from when we arrived here. We were wondering when we'd find them, but at least we know that Cecilia was found by you two." Houki nods in agreement as she was also relieved to hear one of their friends was alright.

"If she is a friend of yours, then we'll be more than happy to reunite you with her." General Starshade said with a smile. "I'll have my brother fetch her while the rest of us return to the main area of Stardust Fields. I'm sure she'll be delighted to see her friends again." Our heroes all nodded in agreement as he tells his brother to fetch Cecilia from the bunker and meet them back in the main area. Sergeant Starshade salutes and uses another lift to enter the bunker while everyone else returned to the main pathway.

* * *

Upon completing their training, our heroes retuned to the main area of Stardust Field while Sergeant Starshade departs to find Cecilia and reunite her with Ichika and Houki. The bunker door opens up as our heroes and General Starshade arrives back to their previous location before dismounting the lift.

"General Starshade, I've been meaning to ask you something." Ichika said.

"And what would that be?" General Starshade raised an eyebrow.

"How did you and your brother find Cecilia?" Ichika asked "And how did she end up in Stardust Fields? The last time we saw her was right before we all fell into this green pipe." That made the Mario Bros gasp in shock from hearing that.

"Well, I suppose you do have a right to know how we found your friend." General Starshade said, nodding in understanding as he began explaining. "It was around the time of our early hour patrol around Stardust Fields and make our rounds. As we were taking a short rest before continuing our patrol, Sergeant Starshade noticed something not far from our location and rushes over to investigate."

"And that was when he found Cecilia lying down on the ground?" Houki asked.

"Affirmative. The Sergeant even called me over to see what or who he has discovered." General Starshade answered her as he continued. "As we investigated further, we've discovered that she wasn't from this region and was still breathing. I looked around to see if anyone was looking for her while my brother tended to her and made sure she wasn't injured too badly. But there was not a soul in sight for miles, so we've decided to take her back to our bunker and let her rest until she regains her strength again."

"And Cecilia's been with you guys ever since you found her stranded in Stardust Fields?" Ichika asked, sighing in relief knowing that Cecilia is okay.

"Correct. Eventually, she did regain consciousness and told us that she was separated from her friends and was wondering where she is." General Starshade continued "We've explained to her that she was in Stardust Fields and that we couldn't find anyone that she was referring to. I believe that she was devastated about hearing that she couldn't find her friends and even started to cry. Believing that the best course of action was to let her emotions out while we continued with our patrol. After that, you four already know the rest."

"Right. Us crashing down into Stardust Fields and meeting up with Houki and then you guys." Ichika said as he nods in understand "So do you think that Cecilia has calmed down after you and your brother trained Mario and Luigi?"

"We believe so, but we'll have to wait and see until Sergeant Starshade returns with her." General Starshade answered him with a nod. "If she has calmed down, then you two could be seeing her soon enough." The two IS pilots nodded as they wanted for Sergeant Starshade to return with Cecilia.

A couple minutes later, the bunker door opens as Sergeant Starshade and Cecilia arrives on the lift to the surface. As they dismount the lift, Cecilia looks ahead of her and sees both Ichika and Houki standing before her and waved at her. Cecilia started to tear up again, but it wasn't like how the Starshade Bros saw her before. It was tears of joy as she was reunited with her friends as she runs up to them and hugs them.

"Ichika! Houki! It really is you!" Cecilia cried happily "I thought that you were lost and I was the only one that survived! But I'm so glad that you're both still alive!"

"Same with us, Cecilia. We're glad that you're alright as well." Ichika agrees with a smile. "We were worried that something might've happened to you as well, but we're glad to see that you again." Houki nods in agreement as she joins the hug while both the Mario and Starshade Bros smiled at the reunion.

* * *

After the reunion

* * *

"Excellent. Now, the proving grounds! The time as come to show the fruits of your training!" General Starshade said with a smile. "You must use the High Jump and Spin Jump we just taught you…" He points to a flag at the top of the wall. "…To reach the flag way up there! Good luck, soldiers!" The Mario Bros saluted back and walked over to the oil drums.

"You guys sure this is going to work?" Ichika asked in concern. "Using those moves the Starshade Bros taught you to reach the flag up there?"

"Mm-hm, we need to test these moves they taught us so that we can be prepared for other obstacles like this." Mario answered him with a reassured smile. "That way, we'll know what to do while we're on this journey. Besides, you guys can use your IS to reach up there."

"He does have a point, we can just use our IS to reach the flag up there." Houki agrees with a nod. "And that does seem to be the only way to continue on through Stardust Fields. So, let's meet up where the flag is and we can continue from there." Ichika and Cecilia nodded in agreement as they activated their IS's and flew up to the flag while the Mario Bros walked over to the first edge.

"Okie-dokie, time to put our training to the test." Mario said with a grin. "Once we master both the High Jump and the Spin Jump, we can use them during our journey to recover Peach's voice. You ready, Luigi?"

"Right behind you, bro!" Luigi answered as they got into position.

Luigi jumps onto Mario's shoulders as the latter the jumps the moment the former lands, making it over the first obstacle. At the second and third obstacles, they repeated the process and stopped at a gap between the platforms. Knowing what to do next, Mario jumps onto Luigi's shoulders and they spun like a helicopter over the gap and reached the other side. After landing, they reached the next ledge and performed the High Jump again to reach higher ground. With the flag in sight, Ichika, Houki and Cecilia were waiting for them as the Mario Bros performed one last Spin Jump to reach the flag and their friends.

"Way to go, guys!" Ichika cheered.

"That was incredible! You two were so in-sync with each other." Houki beamed.

"That was quite the performance you two made. I applaud both of you." Cecilia said with a smile.

"Ya-Hoo!" Both brothers shouted in glee before looking over the ledge and at the Starshade Bros.

"Hmm… Incredible! Master Mario! Master Luigi! You truly are super brothers! I salute you!" General Starshade saluted.

"You have perfectly mastered the High Jump and Spin Jump!" Sergeant Starshade saluted as well before they walked to the lift and General Starshade jumps back onto his head.

"Master Mario! Master Luigi! Master Ichika! Miss Houki! Miss Cecilia! May your mission be successful! Good luck out there!" General Starshade said with approval.

"Move OUT!" Both Starshade Bros saluted as they retuned to their bunker.

"Well, looks like that's all there is to it. You guys really aced your training out there." Ichika smiled "Not only you guys mastered some new moves, but we also found another of our friends. We just need to look for the others and we'll all be reunited again." His friends and the Mario Bros all nodded in agreement.

"But where could the rest of our friends be? We were all separated when we arrived here." Houki said in concern "We're lucky to found Cecilia because the Starshade Bros found her before us and was able to reunite her with us. The others could be anywhere."

"That's all the more reason to find all the coins we need to pay Tolstar and reach the Beanbean Kingdom." Mario stepped in "He's the only obstacle left that we need to past in order to reach the kingdom and find your friends. So let's keep looking around for the last few coins we need and get back to Tolstar." His brother and the IS pilots all nodded as they jumped down from the flag and walked down the path adjacent from their location to continue their search for coins.

* * *

After reuniting with Cecilia and completing Mario and Luigi's training with the Starshade Bros, our heroes were now up to five members as they continued on to find the last few coins needed to pay Tolstar and continue on to Beanbean Kingdom. Along the way, Ichika and Houki introduced Mario and Luigi to Cecilia while also explaining to her about their mission to recover Peach's stolen voice from the witch Cackletta and her minion Fawful.

"So, from what I understand, you and Houki are helping Mario and Luigi to recover their ruler's voice stolen by a witch named Cackletta and her right hand Fawful." Cecilia said as she pieced together what Ichika, Houki, Mario and Luigi have told her. "But while on your way to the neighboring kingdom, you encountered the two and were shot down not to far from the border, where you also found Houki. And now with this Tolstar not letting you through to reach the next kingdom, you're all searching for coins to pay him and letting you through while also trying to help this Bowser who's stuck in a cannon. Is that about right?"

"That's the gist of it, but it's more confusing than you think, Cecilia." Ichika said as he wondered about what Cackletta is planning to do. "We're not entirely sure what those two are planning to do with her voice and we still need to find the rulers of the Beanbean Kingdom. I'm worried we might be too late and something bad has happened to them."

"Then we better hurry and find the rest of the coins and return to Tolstar." Mario said with a serious tone as he adjusted his cap. "The more time we spend here, the more damage those two could be doing right now. So, let's see if we can find the rest of the coins and return to Tolstar." His brother and the IS pilots all nodded in agreement as they continued on exploring the rest of Stardust Fields and find the rest of the coins.

As our heroes combed through the landscape of Stardust Fields, fighting off some enemies and scaling the higher platforms in search of more coins to pay Tolstar. After finding more coins from Question Mark blocks from the higher platforms, Mario counts the coins they've managed to collect from every corner of Stardust Fields.

"So how much did we managed to collect, Mario? Do you think it's enough to pay Tolstar?" Ichika asked hopefully.

"I think we might have enough to pay Tolstar to free Bowser from the cannon." Mario answered him with a smile. "It took some time, but I believe we've managed to find all the coins we need. We better return to him and give him the coins we've managed to collect." His brother and the IS pilots all nodded in agreement. Houki looks at the path they are on.

"It looks like this path continues on and loops back around. We should keep going this way and we'll be back where we started." Houki suggested as everyone continued on.

* * *

As our heroes followed the path back towards where they've started, they were about to pass a familiar star shaped bunker door as a familiar voice calls out to the Mario Bros and caused everyone to stop in their tracks.

"Mario and Luigi! Sirs!" An all too familiar voice called out.

"Huh?! What the? Who was that?" Houki asked with a shocked gasp.

"It sounded like the Starshade Bros. They must be really close by." Ichika answered her as he and his friends looked around.

"But where are they calling out from? It almost sounds like they're right beside us." Cecilia said confusedly with a question mark above her head as Luigi notices the bunker door.

"Hey, guys! Look. It's another bunker door. That must be where they're calling us." Luigi pointed to the bunker door.

"But why would they be calling out to you guys again? They've already taught you two those moves, so why call on you now?" Houki asked in confusion as she placed her hand on her hip.

"I'm not sure, but let's hear what they have to say." Mario suggested as he continued. "It must be really important if they're calling out to us again." His brother and the IS pilots nodded and walked over to the bunker just as it opens with General Starshade on top his brother's head and saluted.

"This is an emergency reunion, sirs and madams!" General Starshade shouted as Sergeant Starshade was lifted up and saluted.

"Emergency reunion? What kind of emergency?" Mario asked in confusion.

"Well, by your leave, there is something we com-PLETELY forgot to mentioned to you earlier!" Sergeant Starshade answered him as the lift lowers to General Starshade again.

"Affirmative! You see, when you master a technique in the field, you can also use it in battle!" General Starshade agrees with his brother as the lift rises again.

"You mean the High Jump and the Spin Jump you two taught them?" Ichika asked in amazement.

"Correct! Since they've mastered the High Jump and Spin Jump, they can now use these techniques in battle!" Sergeant Starshade answered as the lift lowers again.

"So, what you're saying is that not only Mario and Luigi can use those moves on the field, you're also going to teach them how to use it for battle as well?" Cecilia asked, beginning to figure out what the Starshade Bros are saying.

"That's correct, Miss Cecilia! We must confirm technique mastery with a combat situation!" General Starshade answered her with a nod.

"Combat situation?" Everyone asked as the lift rises again, only to reveal the Starshade Bros standing on top of a stack of Fighter Flies. The StarShade Bros then did the spin job and drilled down on the Fighter Flies, knocking them away. Ichika then realized what the Starshade Bros are trying to do to teach the Mario Bros how to use the moves in battle.

"W-Whoa whoa whoa! Wait!" Ichika tried to stop the Starshade Bros, but it was too late as the Starshade Bros knocked the two remaining Fighter Flies into Mario and Luigi.

As Mario, Luigi and the two Fighter Flies got into a battle stance. General Starshade goes first. "First off, is the Bros. Attack known as Splash Bros! It involves Mario jumping on Luigi, then throwing himself in the air, then Luigi jumps under Mario, grabs him and do a Spin Jump with a huge flip at the end to slam into the attacking enemy!"

"Whoa! That's amazing!" Ichika whistled in amazement. "So that'll give any foe we encounter some serious hurt with that Bros Attack."

"Indeed, Mister Ichika! Mario and Luigi, sirs! Give it a shot!" Sargent Starshade acknowledged.

"Okay! Ready Luigi?" Mario winked to his younger brother.

"Right with ya, Bro!" Luigi nodded as Mario jumped on Luigi, then Mario threw himself into the air. After that, Luigi jumps under Mario and grabs him and the two did a Spin Jump towards the first Fighter Fly and the Mario Bros did a huge flip as they slammed into the first Fighter Fly, giving it some serious hurt. The first Fighter Fly got swirly eyes as it fell down, exhausted, dropping some coins which jumped into the Mario Bros' coin bag.

"Way to go you two!" Houki cheered.

"Excellent work, Mario and Luigi, sirs! But be careful not to use that attack or your jump attacks on spiked enemies, especially those Spineys. They really hurt! Also, only Mario can use the Spin Bros attack with Luigi" General Starshade praised the Mario Bros mastering the Spin Bros attack as the Mario Bros nod in understand while Ichika, Houki and Cecilia are confused about the Spiny part. "Alright, next up and last is the Bounce Bros which only Luigi can use with Mario. With it, Luigi will leap onto Mario, with Mario throwing him into the air. Then when Luigi is right above him, Mario leaps into the air to grab him. Then the two of them do a flip and Luigi slams into the enemy with his hands."

"So it's like the Splash Bros, only with a different method." Cecilia now understands.

"Correct! Now, Luigi, do the Bounce Bros with your brother, Mario!" Sargent Starshade issued. Luigi nodded as he leaped onto Mario, then his older brother threw him into the air. With Luigi right above him, Mario leaped into the air to grab him, then the two did a flip and Luigi slams into the second Fighter Fly with his hands, giving it some serious damage. Like with the first Fighter Fly, the second Fighter Fly got swirly eyed and collapsed into the ground, knocked out. Then coins fell out of the second Fighter Fly and jumped into the Mario Bros' coin bag.

"Well done, Mario and Luigi, sirs! With those techniques, you'll be able to triumph over that sinister Crackletta!" General Starshade praised as Ichika, Houki and Cecilia applauded the Mario Bros' performance. Mario smiled at his friends while Luigi rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Also, keep practicing those Bro. Attacks we taught you and you'll be able to unlock their more powerful Advanced forms!" General Starshade added.

"More powerful Advanced forms? You mean the techniques you taught them can become even stronger?" Ichika asked in curiosity.

"That's an affirmative, Mister Ichika. The more times Masters Mario and Luigi deployed these skills in battle, the more powerful they'll become." General Starshade answered as he explains "Upon perfecting them, the Masters can use the more Advanced versions for even more damage. It can be really useful in gaining the upper hand on your opponents."

"That does sound very useful. I can definitely see both Mario and Luigi using them against any strong opponent." Houki agrees with a smile.

"That's true, however, they're also much more difficult to execute than their counterparts." Sergeant Starshade said as he added "They require far more precision timing and both Masters need to be in perfect unison to fully utilize them. One miscalculation on the timing could leave them open for any counterattacks, so don't let your enemies get that chance. It could mean the difference between victory and defeat."

"Okie-dokie, we'll make sure to use them as soon as we learn them." Mario said with a smile as he tips his hat. "We'll use the moves you taught us to good use against any foe that comes our way. Now we won't have much to worry about as we continue on to retrieve Peach's voice. Right, guys?" His brother and the IS pilots all nodded in agreement as the Starshade Bros smiled at their answer.

"That's exactly what we like to hear, Master Mario. We know that you, your brother and your friends will succeed in your mission. We wish you the best of luck." General Starshade said gratefully as he and his brother saluted our heroes who returned the gesture.

"Thus, we can officially confirm that these field techniques are indeed executable in battle!" Sergeant Starshade announced.

"Proper planning and preparation will ensure your safety throughout your journey! We wish you luck!" General Starshade added.

"Move OUT!" The Starshade Bros saluted as the lift lowers back down into the bunker.

"Well. It seems that not only you two learned some new moves to help you on the field, but also in battle as well." Houki said with a smile. "And with your training with the Starshade Bros complete, we can continue on towards our destination and find that witch Cackletta and her lackey Fawful."

"And not only that, but with the coins we've managed to collect, we might just be able to pass Tolstar." Ichika agrees with a grin. "And also help Bowser out of the cannon he's stuck in. I'm just hoping that Tolstar's in a cooperating mood after all the trouble we went through finding the coins needed to pay him."

"Then we better head back to them and give the coins we've collected to Tolsar." Mario suggested "I'm positive we've got more than enough to pay him and get Bowser out of the cannon and maybe he'll also let us pass to reach the Beanbean Kingdom." His brother and the IS pilots nodded in agreement as they made the trek back to the borderline.

* * *

Upon reaching the border, Tolstar was relaxing on a beach chair with an umbrella and a drink in his hand while wearing sunglasses. As he takes a sip from his drink, he noticed the reflection of our heroes on his drink and lifts up his shades to see them standing on the other side of the platform. Tolstar jumps off from his chair and stands in front of the entrance to the Beanbean Kingdom.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up. And here I was just starting to get comfortable and enjoying my vacation." Tolstar mocked while our heroes glared at him. "Well, whatever, I assume that you guys were able to collect enough coins than your last amount?"

"Yeah, we did and it took a long time to find them. So, you better keep your end of the deal when we show them to you." Houki warned as she glared at the Spike.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just let me calculate your amount and then we'll talk." Tolstar said uncaringly as he takes out his calculator and beings calculating.

"Bro, do you think it'll work this time?" Luigi asked with a gulp. "I know he said that if we collected the additional Beanbean coins, he'd free Bowser from the cannon and not let the secret slip out. But do you really think that the amount of coins we've collected would be enough?"

"I'm not sure, Luigi, but it's our best bet to convince him." Mario answered him as he remains vigilant. "Even if he is lying to us, we have no choice but to pay him in order to pass him and enter the Beanbean Kingdom. We'll just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best." His brother nodded as Tolstar just finished calculating.

"Uh…nyeck? Let's see here… You now have 210 coins…" Tolstar said with a greedy smile. "Nyeck! It took you long enough! But well done! I'll be taking those coins now!" Mario nods as he tosses his coin bag at Tolstar who caught it and takes out all of the coins before tossing it back to Mario.

"Finally! Let me outta here!" Bowser whined. "I've been stuck in here for too long and my body's starting to cramp! I want outta here so I can stretch my legs again!"

"Just relax, Bowser. We'll get you out of there. Just as long as Tolstar helps us to get you free." Ichika said while keeping a close eye on Tolstar.

"Huh? You want out? You want me to help you?" Tolstar asked with a mean laugh. "Who said I'd do that?"

"Wait, what?!" Everyone shouted in unison shocked as a imaginary piano fell behind our heroes.

"GRAGH! Swindler!" Bowser yelled angrily as an anger vein appeared on his forehead.

"You mean you lied to us?! You lied about helping us set Bowser free?!" Houki screamed in anger as she clenched her fists.

"Nyeck nyeck nyeck! Of course, I did! Did you idiots honestly think I'd help you guys?! What a joke!" Tolstar answered her with a mocking laugh "You guys should've seen the looks on your faces when you realized you've been punked! Priceless!"

"I can't believe you! After all the trouble we went through to find those coins to pay you, but you've decided to turn your back on the deal!" Cecilia yelled angrily. "To think there are still self-serving, self-absorb lowlifes in this world, you are no better than those who trick people out of their hard-earned money!" Tolstar uses his wings to fly over to our heroes and hovers above them.

"Nyeck nyeck! Yeah, well tough cookies! You're not in the Mushroom Kingdom anymore!" Tolstar shouted "Outsiders begone!" He dives towards our heroes and crashes down on the ground.

"That's it! You're going down, Tolstar!" Ichika yelled angrily as he shouted "Byankushi, activate!" Ichika is now piloting Byankushi.

"Akatsubki! Appear!" Houki yelled as she now pilots Akatsubki.

"Blue Tears! Activate!" Cecilia yelled as she now pilots Blue Tears. Tolstar was surprised by this.

"Nyeck?! What are those things?!" Tolstar then realized where Ichika and his two female friends are from and regain his composure. "Now I get it… You three aren't from the Mushroom World, you're from the Real World!"

"What do you mean by that?!" Ichika demanded while Mario and Luigi remained silent, but they still glare at Tolstar.

"Nyeck, nyeck! I'll be glad to explain it to you before I pound you all to stardust! You see, our world is called the Mushroom World and your world is called the Real World. Both of our worlds are connected, but the gateway to the Mushroom World from the Real World is unstable, so the gateway to the Mushroom World from the Real World only opens either a year or a few years. I heard rumors of a human child that first came into the Mushroom World a few years ago, but found a way back to his home in the Real World, but it doesn't matter since I'm gonna beat you all senseless!" Tolstar threaten as he made a spike ball appear from his hands and threw it at our heroes, they dodged it.

"Take this!" Cecilia yelled in fury as she fired gunshots from Blue Tears' gun, giving Tolstar some small damage.

"Oof! Not bad, but I'm just getting warmed up!" Tolstar laughed as he summoned two more spike balls and threw them at Mario and Luigi, they jumped over them.

"Luigi! Let's try the Bros Attacks the Starshade Bros taught us!" Mario suggested.

"Okay! Let's try Bounce Bros!" Luigi suggested as he and Mario did said attack and gave Tolstar some large damage.

"Ow! That really hurts!" Tolstar snarled as he threw more spike balls at our heroes, they dodged them.

"Take this!" Houki yelled as she charged at Tolstar with her IS and slashed him two times with her IS's katana.

"Yeow! I can't believe the Real World has female samurais!" Tolstar growled but grinned deviously as he made a huge spike ball appear from his hands. "But let's see if you can dodge this!" He threw the large spike ball at Houki.

"It'll take a lot more than that to beat me, you con artist!" Houki yelled as she flew above the spike ball. Tolstar sweat dropped.

"And I thought Princess Daisy have a nasty temper…" Bowser muttered, still stuck in the cannon. Houki somehow heard that and glared at Bowser, showing angry white dotted eyes in her features.

"What was that?!"

"Er… Nothing!" Bowser panicked, sweat dropping in fear even if he is stuck in the cannon.

"Alright, bro! Let's do Spin Bros!" Luigi suggested.

"Let's-a-go, Luigi!" Mario winked as he and Luigi did the Spin Bros attack on Tolstar, giving him large damage again.

"Let me try!" Ichika smiled as he charged towards Tolstar with his IS and slashed him three times.

"Grr! Why you!" Tolstar angrily shouted as he threw more spike balls at our heroes, they dodged it as always. Mario jumped on Tolstar three times. Luigi followed suit by also jumping on Tolstar three times.

"How about this?!" Tolstar yelled furiously as he threw three more spike balls at the gang, but they dodged it like always.

"Take this, fiend!" Cecilia yelled as she fired four more shots from her IS's gun, giving Tolstar even more damage.

"And this too!" Houki yelled as she flew in with her IS and slashed the greedy Spike three times. Tolstar tried to get our heroes with more spike balls, but they evaded them like always.

"Have another!" Ichika yelled as he slashed Tolstar 2 times with a upward slash.

"Grrrrr! That's it! No more playing around! Time for me to get serious!" Tolstar snapped in anger as he summoned two large spike balls and threw them at Mario and Luigi.

"Mama-mia!" Luigi panicked but Ichika and Houki picked up the Mario Bros with their ISes. "Whew! Thanks, Ichika! You too, Houki!" Luigi smiled in gratitude.

"No problem. Now how about we teach Tolstar a lesson about not swindling people who work hard?" Ichika winked at Mario who winks back.

"Let's! Here we go!" Mario shouted heroically as he and Luigi jumped down as Ichika and Houki let them go to give Tolstar the biggest wallop he won't forget. Tolstar screamed in panic as he can't do anything to stop the Mario Bros as our two heroic brothers landed on Tolstar and jumped up three times, ending the battle. Tolstar groaned as he stumbled for a bit as bandages magically appear on him, possibly from the battle. Mario walked up to Tolstar and got back the coins he swindled from our heroes before blowing small air at Tolstar, making him fall on his back with another groan.

Upon defeating Toldstar and retrieving the coins he swindled from them, our heroes breathed a sigh of relief that they were able to put a stop to a bully from preventing them to continue on towards their destination. The three IS pilots all deactivated their IS's while Luigi took off his cap and wipes away some sweat as his brother places the coin bag back in his pocket. Tolstar lays on the ground with swirls in his eyes and cartoon birds above his head.

"Well, that should teach him not to swindle anyone again. He's was nothing but a bully." Houki said with a sigh but she smiled heroically. "He thought he could try to walk out of the deal and prevent us from entering the kingdom. But like every other bully, he gets what he deserves in the end and hopefully learns his lesson."

"I agree, he was nothing more than a scoundrel. I also doubt he even took the deal seriously." Cecilia agrees with a nod. "He was just using it as an excuse to swindle more coins along with the coins you've already given him before. I honestly didn't think there were people like him in this world as much as in ours."

"I guess it doesn't really matter where we are, there's always someone like that." Ichika sighed as he wiped some sweat away from his forehead. "Someone who would take advantage of a situation just to make themselves feel superior to others. It doesn't matter who or what they use, as long as it benefits them in the end, that's all that matters."

"It's sad, but also true. There's always someone who'd want to put you down and humiliate you at any chance." Mario also agrees with a nod. "There was even a moment where Luigi won a mansion from a contest that he didn't even entered some time ago. It was later revealed to be a trap by King Boo who wanted revenge on us and I was trapped in a painting as part of his gallery." That made the IS pilots gasp while Luigi could still remember the moment he spotted Mario from the lion statue's mouth.

"Wait, seriously?! You won a mansion from a contest you didn't even enter and it was just a trap for you guys?" Ichika asked in shock.

"Mmm-hmm, that was the most terrifying experience I've ever taken. I had to brave through all of the ghosts inside the mansion." Luigi answered him with a shiver. "It wasn't easy going through the rest of the mansion to try and save Mario from King Boo, but I was able to defeat him and his minions and saved my brother. After that, we parted ways from the person who helped me save Mario and returned him." Mario can admit that his little brother has gotten much braver since his first adventure on his own, but the moment was interrupted by Bowser who was getting impatient.

"Yeah, yeah, that's all fine and dandy, now would you losers just hurry up and get me out of this stupid thing?!" Bowser yelled with an anger vein. "I've stuck in this thing for too long and it's not getting any better! I'm starting to get a Charlie horse from being in this thing for so long, so hurry it up! My arms and legs and tail are starting to cramp!"

"Alright, alright, keep your shell on. We'll get you out of there." Houki said with an annoyed sigh. "We just need to find out how we can work this cannon. Anyone got any ideas how to get Bowser unstuck?"

"Maybe we could push him out from underneath him?" Ichika suggested as he looked at the cannon. "We could crawl under the cannon and push his bottom half so that he could pop out from the top."

"I don't think that's a good idea. Bowser's pretty heavy and I'm not talking about his weight." Mario stepped in "Because of his much larger frame and adding his shell to the weight, it's gonna be really difficult to push him even with all of us working together. We'll have to come up with another idea to get him out of the cannon." But as they tried to come up with another plan, a familiar voice was heard from underneath the unconscious Tolstar.

"You, sir, have been griping far too loudly for some time!" The voice shouted from under Tolstar.

"What the devil?! Where did that voice come from?" Cecilia asked with a gasp as the star shaped bunker door opens from underneath Tolstar and Sergeant Starshade comes out and launches Tolstar back to the entrance of the Beanbean Kingdom and wasn't happy.

"Sergeant Starshade?! What are you doing here?" Houki asked in shock.

"I heard some commotion from this location and came over to investigate what was going on." Sergeant Starshade answered her. "But by the time I've arrived, the commotion was already over and the hatch was blocked by a large object. However, I still could hear noises and from what I can see, you lot had quite the battle."

"We did, we were swindled out of the coins we've collected in order to pay Tolstar to enter the Beanbean Kingdom." Mario told him as he explained. "But he also made a deal to free Bowser from the cannon, only for him to back out and attacked us. Now we're trying to find a way to get him out of the cannon."

"Stuck in the cannon, eh? I believe I have a solution." Sergeant Starshade turns to the Bowser and flips the cannon over to point directly at the still unconscious Tolstar.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Bowser gawked in shock.

"The only way to get you out of that cannon." Sergeant Starshade answered him as he lights a match. "Fire in the hole!" He lights the fuse on the cannon that has everyone panicking as the lift lowers back down in the bunker and the hatch closes while saluting.

"Graaaaaaargh!" Bowser screamed "M-MARIO! Green 'Stache! Crybaby Ichika! You gotta get Princess Peach's voice back! It's all up to you!" The fuse ignites the cannon and fires Bowser out and towards Tolstar as he flies into the distance.

"Do you think that he'll be okay?" Houki asked in concern. "He was fired from the cannon and blasts through Tolstar and sent him flying. Do you really think he'll be alright?"

"Knowing Bowser, he'll definitely survive this. He's far too stubborn to be taken out that easily." Mario answered her with a smile. "Believe me, I've fought him so many times over the years and no matter how many times I defeated him, he always seems to bounce right back up for another round. So yes, I'm sure he'll be alright."

"Well, if that's the case, then he'll be alright on his own. We've still got our mission to do." Ichika said with a nod and smile. "Since Bowser knocked Tolstar out of the way, that means we can continue on towards the Beanbean Kingdom. So let's get going, we've still got to find Cackletta and Fawful and take back Peach's voice." His friends all nodded in agreement as the Mario Bros used the Spin Jump to get over the gap and the IS pilots used their IS's to hover over.

As our heroes passed through the border to the Beanbean Kingdom, a lone figure was watching them from afar and smiled at them. Our view was only from the figure's back, but one could tell that the figure was a woman wearing a long, teal colored dress, platinum blonde hair with a bang that covers her right eye, a silver crown on her head and holds a wand with a star at the end in her left hand. The woman soon vanishes in a bright light as our heroes continued on towards their destination.

* * *

**To be continued…**

**Next time: Up HooHoo Mountain We Go!: Part 1 of 2: Reunited with Ling and Enter the CPUS!**

**A/n: Next up, our heroes arrived in HooHoo Village and they reunited with Ling (with a bit of a comical rocky start between Luigi and Ling's first meeting) and they meet the CPUS and their little sisters from Hyperdimension Neptunia through the same warp pipe that took Ichika and his female friends to the Mushroom World, so as Mario always say: See you next time!**


End file.
